Angelina Craig-Florez

First professor I went out of my way to write a review for!! I took both Intermediate I and II with Dr. Craig-Florez, and would highly recommend her if going through the language requirement. My fluency grew a ton, and I never felt looked down upon for starting at a lower proficiency level. Readings and material is genuinely engaging and focused on lots of real-world issues. You'll do well if you're a good speaker or writer in general, and I feel like Dr. Craig-Florez really gave me the tools to take grow that in another language as well.

I loved Dr. Craig-Florez. I took her for Spain Through Its Art and it was such a fun class. To be fair, I came into Columbia being already finished with the language requirement and having substantial Spanish-speaking skills, but I would still recommend this class to anyone interested in taking a Spanish class that is content-based rather than grammar-based. She is so passionate about Spanish art history and generally very sweet. Compared to seminar Spanish classes I took in high school, I found this class a lot easier because there was more lecture than I thought and everyone varied in their speaking abilities.

The course covered typical Intermediate I stuff so we finished indicative tenses and began to learn the subjunctive. Craig-Florez was an absolutely fabulous professor. She was super sweet and warm in class and encouraged everyone to speak. She made me feel much more confident in my Spanish ability and I learned so much from her class. BE WARNED!! She despises when students use their phones and laptops for non-spanish-related things in class and not only will she let you know, but she will look down on you for it. Do yourself a favor and keep your laptop and phone away unless she asks you to bring it out. Similarly, try to use as little English as possible in the classroom, even when speaking casually to other students.

DO NOT take this course if: 1. You are not interested in either art or history. The class contains both in-depth discussions on artists and their artwork, and lengthy readings about the history of Spain. The readings are assigned in each class, and the Professor expects students to make outlines on them (though she doesn't usually check if you have). She hands out sheets in class with questions and students are expected to be able to regurgitate information learned in the (way above vocabulary level, especially if you are not a native speaker or have not spoken Spanish in a while) readings. This was definitely the wrong choice for me, a person for whom the only thing worse than history is art history. 2. You have not spoken Spanish in a while. I had not spoken Spanish regularly for over 6 months prior to taking the class, and had forgotten a lot of my grammatical and vocabulary skills. The Professor is not forgiving about this at all, and on top of not allowing any English in the classroom (expected for a 3300 level class, so this isn't really a problem), she refuses to review vocabulary or grammar and gives major side-eye when asked to provide a word if a student has simply forgotten it. Additionally, at the beginning of the class, she makes explicit that she will not teach grammar; students are expected to do additional work outside of class if they wish to learn about gramm…

She is absolutely wonderful. Not only is Prof. Craig-Florez extremely competent and effective at teaching, she is also very warm and cares about her students. I came into this class with zero spanish skills and felt really worried and down the first couple of weeks. The class seems to be geared towards students that have some basic skills in the language already, so if you're new it can be really intimidating and intense. The texts for the class are almost entirely in spanish, so doing homework can take a really long time since you have to translate all of it. My heart sank and I would sit in class with the dear in headlights look and a tummy ache, but she made me feel at ease and assured me that with practice I would be ok. I wish I would've utilized her office hours as I'm sure it would've made life easier. Prof. Craig-Florez is very organized and keeps a fast pace, but slows it down for tougher concepts. You'll need to get over any insecurity of speaking spanish in front of others as there's a lot of group exercises, but it was funny sometimes. We had some laughs throughout the semester. She's also a very fair grader and willing to work with you if you get sick and need to make up for something. Make the effort and you will do well in this class. I was crushed to find she doesn't teach elementary II. I'd take her for every section if I could. If you're a "true beginner" as…

Professor Craig-Florez is a real gem. She is one of the kindest teachers I have had at this university, and it was clear from the beginning of the semester how much she wanted her students to learn and succeed. Part of her method of teaching the language was very practical, focusing on conversational comfort and fluency. In her class, if you put in the effort to be on top of the assignments and lessons, it was not difficult to learn and do well - especially if you were actually engaged with the material and showed any sort of enthusiasm for the language or culture. Like the other reviews below, it was true that we spent a lot of class time doing exercises from the book, but I found this to be helpful in really understanding concepts as she was actively helping us throughout. All in all, wonderful teacher and wonderful woman. If you do the work assigned and participate in class, it's very easy to receive a good grade and learn a lot.

I learned a lot of Spanish grammar and a lot of new vocabulary pertaining to different subjects within each unit. I also learned a lot about Spanish culture including films, poems, and history.

Professor Craig-Flórez is amazing. 1 Columbia University: Arts & Sciences Fall 2023 Course: SPANUN2120_001_2023_3-COMPREHENSIVEINTERSPANISH : SPANUN2120_001_2023_3 - COMPREHENSIVE INTER SPANISH Instructor: Angelina Craig-Florez

We learned conversational Spanish that would help us apply to international jobs and help the environment. We also learned several conjugations for future, conditional, and subjunctive. 1 Columbia University: Arts & Sciences Spring 2021 Course: SPANUN2101_005_2021_1-INTERMEDIATESPANISHI : SPANUN2101_005_2021_1 - INTERMEDIATE SPANISH I Instructor: Leire Alejaldre Biel

Professor Craig-Florez was the absolute best. She is extremely kind and understanding, and she is very patient. This is a very fast-paced course, but she manages to get through reading, speaking, and writing practice in every class. I appreciate her thorough planning of every course, and I enjoyed how she encourages partner/group work daily. Grammar/vocab work is not really emphasized during class (only 1-2 days), but you will practice a lot of communication skills. I had a very enriching and formative experience in this course, and I would definitely recommend!