Spanish

Clearing Prerequisites

Eligibility to Skip Lower-Level Courses

You may be eligible to skip certain lower-level Spanish courses if you:

• Completed Spanish coursework at another college;
• Completed Spanish coursework in high school;
• you are a native speaker; or
• you have other knowledge of the language.

If you meet any of the above requirements and would like to begin at a level higher than SPAN 1, you can request to clear prerequisites. We clear perquisites based on the following:

• SPAN 1 - no previous college coursework or fewer than 2 years of high school coursework in Spanish. 
• SPAN 2 - 2 years of Spanish in high school or Spanish 1 at any college.
• SPAN 3 - 3 years of Spanish in high school or Spanish 2 at any college.
• SPAN 4 - 4 years of Spanish in high school or Spanish 3 at any college. For this level and any levels higher, we will ask that you speak with a Spanish faculty so that they can confirm your readiness for this level.  

If you have taken college-level Spanish, request a prerequisite clearance for SPAN 2 or SPAN 3, please submit the Prerequisite Clearance Online Form. 

If you have taken high school Spanish, contact the division office to request prerequisite clearance. Provide your transcript (unofficial is fine) and your CWID. Still in high school? Visit the Dual Enrollment page for how to take college classes while in high school.  

For SPAN 4 or higher, please contact the Spanish department at the email listed on this page. A Spanish faculty member will arrange a brief phone interview to determine your readiness. 

Are you a Native Speaker of Spanish?

If you are a native speaker of Spanish, you can self-place based on your knowledge of your own language skills. Please see below for guidance, and then contact the Language Arts Division Office to clear the prerequisite for your requested level.

To succeed in Spanish 2, you should be able to:

• Describe yourself, your family and friends (physical characteristics, age, personality?  Can you identify people by name with the verb “llamarse.”
• Talk about your classes and your schedule (times, days of the week)
• Describe basic physical feelings and states using “estar + adjective” or “tener + noun
• Talk about what you like to do in your free time, using “gustar” and appropriate markers of time: los fines de semana, los domingos en la mañana, los viernes en la noche…
• Say what you want to do, what you need to do, or what you have to do.
• Say what you are going to do using the future tense “voy a + infinitive.”  You can talk in a more nuanced way about your plans using “tengo ganas de + infinitive” or “pienso + infinitive” to indicate things that you would like to do or plan to do.

Guidelines for Success in Spanish 3

To succeed in Spanish 3, you should be able to:

• Talk about actions in the past at specific points using the preterite and appropriate markers of time (anoche, ayer, el año pasado…). You can ask and give information about how long ago an event took place, using “hace + time.”
• Describe your habitual actions in your childhood and youth, using the imperfect tense and appropriate markers of time (cuando era niño /niña, de niño/niña, todos los veranos, en mi cumpleaños…)
• Give basic instructions using the impersonal “se.” In our class, we have used it to give recipes.  Can you give a basic recipe?
• Make comparisons appropriately.
• Use the two translations of the verb “to know” accurately (saber vs conocer).
• Avoid sounding repetitive by using direct object pronouns to replace something mentioned before in the conversation.
• Express agreement and disagreement using “Yo también” or “A mí también”, or “Yo tampoco” or “A mí tampoco” appropriately.

To succeed in Spanish 4, can you:

• Pueden hablar de las cosas que nunca han hecho, usando el presente perfecto?
• ¿Pueden narrar un viaje o un accidente usando el pretérito y el imperfecto?
• ¿Pueden hablar de su salud, de síntomas y enfermedades?
• ¿Pueden dar recomendaciones con el subjuntivo?
• ¿Pueden decir cuáles son los problemas socialesmás importantes para ustedes y expresar su opinión sobre ellos?
• ¿Puedenreaccionar a una opinión usando el presente de subjuntivo o el presente de indicativo?
• ¿Pueden hablar de esperanzas y deseos para su familia o amigos, con el subjuntivo?
• ¿Pueden decir si conocen a alguien que...o un lugar que... usando el subjuntivo o el indicativo en su respuesta?