Vale la pena continuar

When you’ve studied Spanish and you’ve already passed the minimal recommended number of foreign language classes, you’re ready to move forward. Mr. Jacob Smith prepares students to move in that direction, but after they take his classes, they will find themselves either with Mr. David Belt or Mr. Maurice Manning, both of whom teach Spanish III. Students who want to advance to Spanish IV will stay with Mr. Belt.

Mr. Smith makes sure his students are prepared to take the higher level classes by starting his lessons with “a moment silence [so they can] be able to come to authentic selves,” he said.

He teaches all the details in a way that makes it accessible to his students. “There was a time where a student came after school to ask for help on where to put accent marks, and we were able to successfully teach them,” he said.

While students can communicate with native speakers after Spanish II, moving on to Spanish III is an academic achievement. Most teachers, including Mr. Smith, use a combination of methods to have students learn to understand both spoken and printed Spanish. Mr. Smith leads his students “by example and working as hard as I can to be consistent,” he said. “My daily routine starts with greeting all students at the door.”

So what is the benefit of continuing? “Level lll is a little like Level ll, but it’s just helping you improve basic communication skills and in written form,” Mr. Smith explained. But there’s more than that. Spanish III is required in order to take IB Spanish at Armijo or AP Spanish at Fairfield or Rodriguez. The course catalog explains that students in Spanish III (1370) “continue to practice narrating in oral and written form using more complex grammatical structures. There is a stronger emphasis on communication and reading using authentic materials.” It is great preparation for those who want to be considered bilingual for future careers and lifelong experiences.