Self-Placement by Courses
Your self-placement decision is only tentative and will need to be approved by the instructor, the Assistant Director, or the Director of the Spanish Language Program during the first days of classes. Take both the Course Description and the Student Profile (below) into consideration before making a decision. Students with some prior knowledge of Spanish are strongly recommended to take the SAT II prior to enrolling in your first Spanish class at Duke.
Course Description: Spanish 001
Elementary Spanish introduces the basic elements of the language. It
covers present tense, present perfect, present progressive and the morphology
(forms) of the past tenses. It introduces students to Spanish-speaking
cultures through readings, audio texts and other authentic materials.
Students read 2 stories of about 550 words each.
Student Profile: Spanish 001
- Students who had fewer than two years of high school Spanish
- Students who had a maximum of three years of high school Spanish and a score of 370 or lower on the SATII
- Students who did not cover beyond the simple present tense in high school, or whose Spanish classes were conducted in English
- Students who did not read any texts in Spanish
- Students who have very little contact with a Spanish-speaking environment (i.e. no family interaction in Spanish)
- Students with 3 (or more) years of high school Spanish who think they
belong in Spanish 01 should contact spanish@aas.duke.edu to request an appointment for a placement interview. Students might
be asked to bring their high school records indicating their foreign
language courses taken and grades earned.
Enrollment in Sp01 is by permission number only. To request a permission number, go to:
http://spanish.aas.duke.edu/courses/permission.php
Course Description: Spanish 002
Second semester of elementary Spanish continues with the introduction
of the basic elements of Spanish. This course builds on the elements
of the language acquired in Elementary Spanish 1. It covers the past
tenses (preterit and imperfect), past progressive, the future tense,
commands and an introduction to the present subjunctive. It also studies
the direct and indirect object pronouns and possessive pronouns. It
exposes students to Spanish-speaking cultures through readings, audio
texts and other authentic materials. Students read 2 stories of about
1000 words each.
Student Profile: Spanish 002
- Students who have successfully completed Spanish 001 or its equivalent at the university level
- Students who have a score of 380-450 on the SATII
- Students who have studied Spanish for at least 2 years in high school
and have covered material pertaining to Spanish 001 (see description
of Spanish 001)
Course Description: Spanish 014
Spanish 014 is an intensive course; it covers the basic elementary language
curriculum (Spanish 001 and 002) in one semester, targeted to students
with none or very little experience in Spanish.
Student Profile: Spanish 014
- Students who have never studied Spanish
- Students who have less than one year of high school Spanish
- Students who have very little contact with a Spanish-speaking environment.
Course Description: Spanish 063
Spanish 063 is the third semester Spanish course. This course is for students who have successfully completed Spanish 002 or its equivalent. The course includes a complete review of elementary grammar (everything covered in Spanish 001 and 002), past subjunctive, pluperfect tenses, application of reading strategies to progressively longer authentic texts, and regular speaking practice. Reading assignments at end of course are equivalent to a 100-150-page novel (not adapted for classroom use).
Student Profile: Spanish 063
- Students who have successfully completed Spanish 002.
- Students who have a score of 460-580 on the SATII, or a score 3 on the AP exam (language or literature)
- Students who have studied Spanish for at least 2 years in high school
and have covered material pertaining to Spanish 002 (see description
of Spanish 002)
Course Description: Spanish 076
Spanish 076 is the fourth semester Spanish course. This course is for students who have successfully completed Spanish 063 or its equivalent. Spanish 076 includes a complete review of basic intermediate level grammar, expansion of pronominal constructions, discourse connectors, and a range of conversational strategies. Emphasis in writing through various writing tasks. Focus on the discussion of a diversity of literary texts and other media (film, news, short essays, cartoons, etc.). Reading assignments at end of course must be equivalent to a 150-200-page novel (not adapted for classroom use).
Student Profile: Spanish 076
- Students who have successfully completed Spanish 063.
- Students who have a score of 590-650 on the SATII, or a score 4 on the AP language exam.
- Students who have studied Spanish for at least 2 years in high school
and have covered material pertaining to Spanish 063 (see description
of Spanish 063)
Course Description: 100 level courses
100 level courses correspond to the 5th semester of Spanish and are built
on the elements acquired in advanced intermediate Spanish. The Spanish
Language Program offers a range of courses at the 100 level; please check
ACES for a description of these courses.
Student Profile: Spanish 100 level courses
- Students who have successfully completed Spanish 076
- Students who have a score of 660+ on the SATII, or a score 4 on the AP literature exam; or a 5 in the language AP exam
- Students who have studied Spanish for at least 3 years in high school and have covered material pertaining to Spanish 076 (see description of Spanish 076)
- Heritage students or native speakers of Spanish do not qualify to take Spanish 105 (Advanced Oral communication)