- In general, (contrary to popular belief) online classes take more time. If you think about it, this makes sense. Something that takes an instructor 10 minutes to say in an on-ground course may take double- or triple-time for you to read and absorb on your own in the online format.
- It's a skill-based course. It takes a lot of time and effort to develop a skill.
- How many credits is it worth? Most of my classes are 4- or 5-credit classes. Compared to a 3-credit class, that right there tells you a bit about the time expectation.
- How easily are you absorbing the material? If you're breezing through the content, it will take you less time. If you're struggling or just need to work slowly through it, that will also be a time-soaker.
Ideas, Brainstorming and Philosophies about learning Spanish online
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
8 secrets for being successful in Croghan's class
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Plagiarism, yuck!
Spain's population density, lower than that of most European countries, is roughly equivalent to New England's. In recent years, following a longstanding pattern in the rest of Europe, rural populations are moving to cities. Urban areas are also experiencing a significant increase in immigrant populations, chiefly from North Africa, South America, and Eastern Europe.
What happened when you did that? If you did it correctly, it should have returned results of the original source of that passage. It came from the U.S. Department of State website (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2878.htm).
I do that periodically, when I suspect a student's writing is not his or her own. And that is a quick and easy way to confirm that suspicion. But it is not fun for me to make this revelation. In fact, I'm actually quite relieved when my suspicion is proven wrong.
I am going to tell an honest and embarrassing story. When I was a college freshman at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, I was taking Psychology 101 in a very large lecture hall, probably about 300 students. It was intimidating. We had an assignment to write a book review. We were warned about the importance of using our own words and ideas, to not plagiarize. I had heard of plagiarism before, but didn't think I was an offender. So I wasn't all that worried.
A few weeks after we had turned in our papers, the professor made an announcement that some students had plagiarized. If they were willing to come forward to him (privately), he would offer a redo. I remember thinking, "Could he be talking about me? Surely not." I was insecure and unsure, but too scared to approach him. I let it go.
The next week, when we got our papers back, I was aghast. Not only had I been caught plagiarizing, thereby failing the assignment, I also was to fail the course. I was mortified.
I remember the next day, going to the professor's office in Burnett Hall. Dr. Ross Thompson. I don't remember all of my professors' names from undergraduate, but I certainly will never forget his. I was ready to go my knees and beg him in his office for a redo. He was polite about it, but short with me. There was to be no redo. I pled ignorance. I thought attaching a list of Works Cited was all I needed, even though I used the book's exact language without direct quotations. I appealed and took it as high in the university judicial system as I could. My university handled my case with poise and professionalism, but the decision stood. I failed Psychology 101. It was a hard lesson to learn, but it was a lesson learned nonetheless.
Here is what I know now that I didn't know then:
1. Plagiarism is illegal. It is punishable by failure of the assignment, failure of the course or even expulsion from the institution. After all, you are stealing somone's property.
2. Using the thoughts or ideas of others, even in your own words, is plagiarism if you don't cite it.
3. Using the exact words (even just a couple of words) without using direct quotations and proper citation is plagiarism.
4. Directly quoting several sentences or paragraphs, while not plagiarism, is inappropriate. You must interject your own ideas and thoughts. This is especially true when the assignment length is only a paragraph or two.
To be honest, I am not a huge stickler that proper APA form is meticulously used as you quote your sources. I am not a go-to person for answers about proper APA style. I will not be counting the number of spaces you've used, or watching for periods, commas and appropriate italics. I do, however, expect some attention be given to this matter, and an attempt made at giving credit where credit is due. I think that is more than fair.
So please do not learn the hard way on this, like I did. Hopefully, somebody can learn from my mistakes before they make them for themselves. If I can help one person, then I guess it was worth the experience. Yeah, maybe not.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Ser or Estar?
General Ser Rule
Ser is used to classify and identify permanent or lasting attributes. If the general rule isn´t specific enough for you, think of the acronym DOCTOR, which stands for Description,Occupation, Characteristic, Time, Origin, and Relationship
General Estar Rule
Estar is used to indicate temporary states and locations. If the general rule doesn´t suffice, think of the acronym PLACE, which stands for Position, Location, Action, Condition, and Emotion.
Here is the link if you would like to see more (including examples).
http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/100040/ser-and-estar
Also, the following information comes from http://www.studyspanish.com/. For more information, check out this site. It's a wonderful site because it first explains the grammar concept in English and then in Spanish.
http://www.studyspanish.com/lessons/serest1.htm
http://www.studyspanish.com/lessons/serest1.htm
http://www.studyspanish.com/lessons/serest3.htm
http://www.studyspanish.com/lessons/serest4.htm
When a noun follows the verb, use ser
When an adjective follows the verb, decide between "essence" and "condition"
To tell where something is from, use ser
To tell where something is located right now, use estar
To tell where an event is taking place, use ser
And for audiovisual you folks, here is some YouTube you might enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPRWnL2kGok&feature=related
Like anything that is difficult, this is going to take some time and practice. And even then, it may be awhile before you feel comfortable distinguishing between the two verbs.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
"I am struggling with word order in Spanish sentences."
In this blog, I will attempt to point out some tips that you can use as a general guide. Do not follow them religiously, as there are always exceptions to the rules. But hopefully this will help, overall.
In case I start using "parts of speech" vocabulary that you could really use a refresher on before beginning, refer to: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/definitions.htm
A few simple rules:
- A sentence that is a declaration or statement (not a question) will typically follow the same structural order as English: Subject + Verb
She walks. Ella camina.
You add objects right after the verb.
She walks the dog. Ella camina el perro.
- A sentence that is a question will now have some changes: Verb + Subject
Does she walk? ¿Camina ella?
And when you start adding objects, or recipients of the action, you start to have a little more flexibility or possible change in the word order:
Does she walk the dog? ¿Camina ella el perro? OR ¿Camina el perro ella?
In the first example, the subject is right after the verb. In the second example, the subject now comes after the object. That can seem confusing that it works more than one way, but the important thing to remember is that, in either case, the subject comes AFTER the verb. So aim for that.
- Adjectives Adding adjectives to a sentence complicates your life slightly. But it shouldn't be too bad. Generally speaking, when you have a noun and adjective right together, use this order: Noun + Adjective
the fat dog = el perro gordo
If the noun and adjective are separated by a verb, those would follow the word order from the first posted rule: Subject + Verb + Adjective
The dog is fat. El perro es gordo.
Of course, just as soon as you learn this rule of "noun before adjective," you will see it broken. This rule is generally used for more descriptive adjectives. There are other adjectives, that provide different purposes:
this hat = este sombrero
three hats = tres sombreros
(both the words "this" and "three" are adjectives)
Here is a helpful link that goes into much more detail about adjectives and word order:
http://spanish.about.com/cs/grammar/a/whereadjective.htm
While this is not a complete synopsis on Spanish sentence structure, it does provide a start in the process for beginning students. If you didn't get enough detail in this blog, or just want some reinforcement, here are a couple of other sites, including a wiki and another blog, that can help:
http://easiestspanish.blogspot.com/2007/08/bienvenidos-using-visualization-tricks.html
http://www.lingolex.com/spanishbasic.htm
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Spanish/Word_Order
http://spanish.about.com/library/beginning/bl-beg-sentences-word_order.htm