Monday, May 5, 2008

Rhymes with Witch

I am in 5 classes this semester. The hardest by far is my 20th century Spanish poetry class. I love poetry. Reading in Spanish is incredibly difficult because I have to look up at least one word a line, but I find that I understand Spanish poems better than some English ones. I am forced to find the meaning behind every word (or be utterly confused), whereas I tend to skip over a few words when reading in English.

So. Luis Cernuda has a few poems that are about 3 pages long. Needless to say I have a new vocabulary sheet that is about the same length. I am learning. I love this challenge, it is my favorite class.

Today after class I went up to my professor and explained I was having some difficulty and asked her when her office hours were. Her response? This is not a class for people who don't have a very good grasp on Spanish.

Then she showed me the books I need to read for the class on the bibliography I've had since the beginning of the semester. The books she showed me were already underlined and I've been making copies out of the one relevant to our current theme for weeks. Only after a few more minutes of conversation did she give me her office hours.

If you are reading this and you teach something, please don't forget how valuable encouragement is to a struggling student.

1 comment:

Eleanor said...

That woman sounds like a moose. I'm studying poetry in English and I still have to look up tonnes of words. The whole point of poetry is that you're not supposed to get it completely on the first reading.

I'm writing my dissertation on poetry this very second, so I'm in both a poetry-based and an frustrated mindset, and that entry made me cross. Massive respect for doing something I love in a language I wish I could speak... you show that professora, girl :) x