Latin American And Iberian Cultures · Columbia University
Roxanna is amazing. She really helped set up the foundation for the Spanish language and did everything she could to help the class and me really understand what we were learning. She's one of the best professors I've ever had. I don't know how I would have been able to do this without her. She's very understanding and uses an immersion technique, only speaking in Spanish from the very start of the first day of class. It makes the need to learn the language that much more necessary, but it really helps.
Roxanna is sooo nice. I took her for both Int. I and II because she made the class comfortable and explained tenses and concepts. The workload is typical of other spanish classes but as a professor she is extremely accessible and genuinely cares. I would definitely recommend her.
I took Sooudi for both elementary spanish II and intermediate spanish I. I would recommend this class if you have a little background in spanish. Sooudi is well organized (following the syllabus very closely), very helpful, and also patient. I definitely recommend visiting her in her office hours if you are confused at all on her material. She is very helpful outside the classroom, and will even make time for students that can't visit during her office hours. I would recommend Sooudi if you have taken spanish in high school and have a very basic understanding of some of the material, but i would not recommend her of you do not have any foundations in spanish. Overall, she is a very well prepared teacher who is understanding and helpful (which is hard to find at Columbia). She grades work fairly and averages the rough draft and final draft of your essays to get your final grade on an essay.
Prior to having Profesora Sooudi I took French classes so I don't really have any other Spanish professors to compare her to. What I can say is that she was much better than any French professor I've ever had. Conversation was definitely encouraged. She expected us to use the language instead of just listen to her speak and was more concerned with fluency than how many vocabulary words we knew. Profesora Sooudi enjoys a good discussion...this class wasn't like some of the french classes I have taken where awkward silences prevailed. She is so sweet, you feel guilty if you don't make an effort. I would definitely take another class with her!
Homework assignments in Gente to be turned in at the end of every chapter. Three compositions. Final Project. Course-wide midterm and final exams.
I didn't know what to expect from a college level Spanish course, but Sooudi was a very nice teacher. If you have a MWF class, she does do her quizzes on every other Friday—making Thursday night partying usually not happening so you can memorize those vocabulary words. I didn't find the courseworks that challenging, but I think it was because it was stuff I did in high school. Class was often boring and tiring, but I think Sooudi was kind enough to understand. She was extremely open to meeting with people about tests and quizzes or additional help.
Every other week a chapter is due in the workbooks (graded with checks), approximately 4 essays (averages rough draft and final draft), sometimes a quiz or 2 as preparation for the midterm, a midterm, and a final (midterm and final are the same for all spanish classes)
4 compositions - rough and final drafts, midterm and final, 3 movies to watch, 1 novella to read, regular workbook assignments
About 6 quizzes, 4 short typed papers, workbook assignments, midterm, final, one book (about 80 pages) to read