However, there are a number of projects you can do which will also help you improve other aspects of your grade.  A few suggestions follow. Please note that most of these must be evaluated during my office hours (10:30-11:30, MWF).  Because of time limitations, I cannot offer extra meeting times or spend much time on grading for extra credit projects.
 
 

• Pronunciation practice.  This will involve at least two short meetings with me during office hours.  You will bring a text to read out loud (Children's books in Spanish work well for this; if you don't own any, go to the PCL and ask a librarian to point you toward children's literature in Spanish; there's a fairly extensive collection.  You might be able to find one of your old childhood favorites translated into Spanish.  However, any source other than a textbook will work-- magazine or internet articles, novels, poems, etc.)  In the first meeting, you'll read out loud; I'll correct mispronunciations and we'll make a list of things for you to work on.  You'll then come back after you've practice those items and repeat the process with a different text, and I'll give you points for improvement and suggestions for things to practice before subsequent visits. This exercise should help your grade on the recorded oral test, especially since our syllabus doesn't really give time and points for pronunciation exercises in the regular class.

• Práctica de conversación. The Spanish Department has a large number of Teaching Assistants (master's degree students), part of whose job is to offer help to lower division students during their office hours.  There is a list of these assistants and their hours on the doors of FAC 34 and FAC 28. (The assistants are all actually housed in room 28.) You can request that they help you with general conversation practice.  I'll provide you with a form you can have the TA fill out.  It will include a spot for the TA to rate you, according to his/her own subjective criteria, and extra credit points will be awarded accordingly.  The TA's rating will be final.

The same TA's are also available to explain grammar, review tests or assignments that have already been graded, give you tips on how to study, etc.  They are not necessarily familiar with the exact content of different courses, and you will not be offered extra credit points for general assistance meetings

IMPORTANT REMINDER: Please remember that you are NOT allowed to have help in preparing ANY written assignments.  Tutors may NOT correct or even proof-read anything that you will be turning in.

TA office hours are concentrated between 10 - 1:00, but a few do have later hours.
 

• "Spanish and my major" portfolio.   You can, if you choose, put together a portfolio of articles, etc. that show a relationship between your major and this course.  If you have ideas for such a portfolio, come to office hours to talk about it and make a plan of action.  The evaluation of this type of project would be based on "show and tell" sessions during my office hours in which you would talk to me (in Spanish) about what you learned.  You may also choose to do a portfolio on a hobby or other topic of personal interest; just talk to me and plan it out before you start.

• Portafolios de vocabulario.  You'll choose a general topic area in which you feel that you need more vocabulary (scientific vocabulary, sports-related vocabulary, political vocabulary, medical vocabulary, etc-- guided by your own interests, so that you'll be better able to talk about something you really might want to talk about.)  You'll make a list of words that have been verified by some authentic source-- ie, that you read in an article, heard on television or in a conversation with a native speaker, etc.  This isn't just a list of "dictionary words"-- although it is okay to look the word up in a dictionary first and then try to find it used in a real-life context.  You will then write a sentence using the new word in a way that proves that you really understand it.  Then you'll bring in your list, and I will quiz you orally over the vocab, either by giving you a definition in Spanish or by giving you the English equivalent.  Points will be awarded based on some combination of the raw number and the percentage of words that you know from your list.

This could be done in conjunction with the topic portfolio mentioned above.
 
• Destinos.  Admit it; some of you do have a secret desire to find out what ever did happen between Raquel and Arturo, whether Angela ever realized what a sleaze Jorge is, why Juan and Pati are on the verge of divorce, and why the heck Gloria is never around even when her kids are sick.  Watching Destinos can also do good things for your listen comprehension and your grammar.  I have a series of worksheets that you can print from the Web and complete while you watch Destinos. (You can buy the tapes in the basement of Batts or watch them in the computer lab on the second floor of Batts.)  The worksheets are challenging, though, so be sure to read them before you start and be sure that you really want to commit that much time.  These are a good thing to do if you have trouble separating out the words in spoken Spanish.  This is the one assignment that I will grade outside of my office hours, although you can also choose to come in and go over it with me instead for instant feedback.

If you have other ideas for something you'd like to do that you feel would help you develop a specific skill or skills and would be deserving of extra credit, come to office hours to discuss them.  The main criteria are that the project should contribute to your learning in a significant way, and involve little or no extra work on the part of the instructor.