Spanish for Heritage Learners
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is a Heritage Learner?
  • Everyone who learned Spanish at home.
  • Children of Spanish speaking parents, whose parents spoke Spanish to them in childhood.
  • Anyone born in a Spanish speaking country, who learned the language as a child.
  • Speakers of Spanish who learned the language outside the classroom, usually in childhood.


How much credit do I get for these courses?
You get the same amount of credit that you would get if you took the "regular course," 3 credit hours for a 3-credit
course.












  What's the advantage of taking these courses?
The advantage for a native speaker is that the skills needed to work in the course are the skills that develop from learning a language at home, from listening to your parents.

The advantage for an adult to continue developing the language he or she learned at home is that this will produce a "balanced bilingual," a speaker who can handle both English and Spanish equally, with the same level of skill and capable of talking in both languages about the same topics.

The advantage for a major or minor in Spanish is that the grade you get in a course designed for you is more likely to be better than the grade you would have gotten in a course that's a bad fit
Are these courses harder?
No.  Actually, they are easier for a Spanish speaker, because they are specifically designed for speakers who have learned the language the way you did, and have skills that are different from the skills of "classroom" learners.   
The "regular" courses are designed for students who learned the language in the classroom.  As a result, your special talents and skills as a native speaker are not what the "regular" course expects or exploits. 
How do I get into this course?
You need to be registered for it.   You cannot register yourself.

In order to apply for registration, you must see one of the two faculty members in charge of the courses, Dr. Julia Cardona Mack, or Dr. Martha Ruiz-Garcia.  They will interview you to determine which of the two courses is best for you, and register you through the Department of Romance Languages.
Can I go on to other couses in the major after I take these courses?
Yes.  These courses are part of the Romance Language curriculum.  Spanish 50 for Heritage Speakers counts as Spanish 50 for the major.