I don’t believe in advanced language courses. I’ve taught Advanced Spanish twice, and both times were a complete waste of time for me and for the students. It was especially annoying to have a bunch of native speakers who were understandably bored and who never missed a chance to make a show of their boredom.
I’m scheduled to teach this course next semester but I decided to have the courage of my convictions and not teach it. Instead, I will name it “Hispanic World in the XXI Century.” I will break it into segments: Spain, Mexico, Bolivia, Cuba, Venezuela, Chile, and Hispanics in the US. The choice of countries is based solely on what interests me and what I’m prepared to teach. We will read 1-2 literary sources and 1-2 articles on politics, economy, etc for each segment.
This, I’m sure, will be a lot more useful than going over the subjunctive for the bizillionth time.
The second Advanced Spanish course I have to teach next semester will be Intro into Literary Theory.
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