More Confusion...and then a Solution?

Hello Everyone.

After talking with Mom last night about the situation with my Phonetics course, I realized that there was a definite misunderstanding.  It seemed that my professor did not believe I could handle a course taught all in Spanish or do well on an exam given in Spanish...but I have already taken 3 college courses taught only in Spanish and have been taking Spanish exams in Spanish since junior year of high school.  I decided that I would have to go talk with the professor and simply ask her what it was that indicated to her that I was at a lower level and what she thought would be my biggest obstacle to success in the course.  I planned to tell her that I really want to continue in the course.

I also decided that I needed another opinion.  So I e-mailed Miss Paula, explained the situation, and asked for her advice and opinion.  Plus I sent her the piece of writing that my teacher's judgment of my level was based on so that she could read it and tell me whether or not it was good.  Soon after I sent that e-mail, I received a phone call from Paula.  She asked if this was a graduate class or if the other students were super advanced.  She then said that she believes I am on an appropriate level of Spanish for this point in my studies.  She was as confused as I was about why my professor would not believe I could handle instruction and exams in Spanish and encouraged me to tell her that I had done well in these circumstances several times before.  She also looked over my writing and said that yes, there were errors, but errors appropriate for the writing of someone on my level.  She believed something fishy was going on as well and told me I would likely have no problem being successful in the course.


Boy, was I glad to hear that!  Even though I knew my abilities were sufficient to survive in the course, my professor's comments made me doubt myself.  Hearing from someone who knows me well that she believes in me really boosted my self-confidence.

Since I was unable to talk with my professor today and was planning to do so tomorrow, I e-mailed her to let her know that I had thought about what she said and that I wanted to come to her office to talk with her about what obstacles I would be facing in the course.

I received an e-mail back which confused me even more.  It basically said that my professor believed I was at a high intermediate level (not advanced like the level of the course) based on the standards of the university here.  But since I am a visiting student, I do not have to adhere to these standards, and so continuing in the course is not a problem.  She then stated that she thought that I would have no problem doing well in the course if I worked hard and practiced.

What?  That sounded like the exact opposite of what she said yesterday...except for the level part.  Confused???  So was I...even more than I was yesterday!!!

So I e-mailed Miss Paula asking for her advice and included the e-mail my professor sent to see if she could help me make sense out of the situation.  As usual, she was able to make everything clearer to me.  She said that probably the professor had misjudged because it is hard to tell from one piece of writing what my level is.

Paula said she believes I am on the appropriate level, but what probably happened is that the professor has years of experience with American students who are not prepared for success in her course.  Therefore, she gives this assignment because she can usually use it to tell which students will have trouble and then weed out those students who are unwilling to work hard enough to succeed even with a lower level understanding of Spanish.

She also stated that it is probably no longer necessary for me to go talk with her, as it is obvious that I will be able to do well in the course if I work hard.  There is not point in asking my professor a bunch of needless questions because, as Paula pointed out, she would not have analyzed the situation as much as I have been.

All of what Paula said makes so much sense to me.  So...I think I will just e-mail my professor back, tell her I am going to continue with the course and will work hard enough to do well, and leave it at that.  Then I will try to forget about the fact that this whole situation has upset me and confused me and has been altogether driving me crazy for 36 hours now.

Finally, a workable solution.  I can live with that.

Peace and Blessings,
Melanie

Spanish Word of the Day:  obstáculo = obstacle, solución = solution :)