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8 sept 2005

They are Spanish majors. They don't like grammar, particularly. Don't bother them with the fine points of linguistic analysis. They can't be bothered with writing a correct sentence. They're not in it for the literature. "No me gusta la literatura." Maybe they like "culture." What did you like about your study abroad experience?--"the bars." Imbibing alcohol in a foreign country, that is so different from imbibing alcohol in Lawrence KS. What a wonderful cultural experience.

Of course, the top 20% of the majors do like literature, at least enough to keep class discussion from dying; they do want to learn to write a sentence without an error every other word.

4 comentarios:

  1. They sound like English Majors.

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  2. No, English majors don't even have to study grammar in the first place. And the bars they go to in foreign countries, they can order their drinks in English.

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  3. Well, apparently it's the same everywhere...

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  4. Only a "moderate disdain." That's so refreshing. If you want to be fluent and a good writer, immerse yourself in the literature. That's what I did. Spend a summer reading García Márquez and--magicallly--you will be able to write with ease and grace, because you will have absorbed a sense of style. You will know what "sounds right." How do you think we--your professors--learned all this? It's not because we took some magic fluency course.

    All of our classes offer the ability to improve one's Spanish, and we do offer 500-level linguistics classes as well.

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