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The Modern Languages Department

About

The Modern Languages Department is a strong and vibrant area of study at Berkeley City College. We offer lower-division courses (Language and Culture) in Arabic, French and Spanish. The program offers a complete range of lower-division courses in Spanish and an Associate of Arts Degree and Certificate of Completion.

The mission of the Modern Languages program is to provide courses leading to the following: an Associate of Arts degree in Spanish and a certificate of completion in Spanish; transfer to a university; the general requirements for the A.A. and A.S. degrees or transfer; and lifelong learning.

The Modern Languages Department consistently offers not only introductory courses, such as Arabic, French, and Spanish 1A and 1B but also intermediate-level courses such
as Spanish 2a, 2B, 10A, 10B, 15, 38, 35A, 35B, 39, 40. The department also offers Spanish 22A and B (Elementary and Intermediate Spanish) for students whose native language is Spanish.

During the summer, the program offers classes and the possibility of studying abroad. The Study Abroad program provides students with the opportunity to experience and gain an appreciation of other cultures outside the US while studying the language. The intensive language courses meet five days a week and are usually offered in countries like Spain, France, Cuba, Egypt and/or Mexico.

Come and experience the academic and personal enrichment that comes with learning new languages, and the diverse cultures that they represent.

Academic Departments Homepage

 

Degrees/Certificates

Spanish - AA-T Degree
Summary

Spanish provides a sequential course of study that prepares you for transfer to four-year institutions with a Spanish major or acquisition of Spanish proficiency necessary for career fields that emphasize the value of familiarity with diverse cultures and global issues.

Students are required to complete:

  • a minimum of 18 semester units in the major with a grade of C or better while maintaining a minimum grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.0 in all CSU transferable coursework.
  • 60 semester CSU-transferable units using the California State University-General Education-Breadth pattern (CSU-GE Breadth); OR the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) pattern.
  • No more than 60 semester units are required.
Learning Outcome(s)
  1. Use grammar and vocabulary to demonstrate oral competence in the Spanish language.
  2. Use grammar and vocabulary to demonstrate written competence in the Spanish language.
  3. Describe the culture(s) of the Spanish-speaking world.
  4. Interpret Spanish-language texts according to their cultural, literary and/or linguistic content.
Career Opportunities
Transfer to a 4-year university in Spanish or related discipline.
      Spanish Language For Heritage Speakers - A.A. Degree
          Spanish Language For Heritage Speakers - Certificate of Achievement
          Summary
          Spanish provides a sequential course of study that prepares you for transfer to four-year institutions with a Spanish major or acquisition of Spanish proficiency necessary for career fields that emphasize the value of familiarity with diverse cultures and global issues.
           
          Learning Outcome(s)
          1. Demonstrate oral competence in the Spanish Language: use grammar and vocabulary to demonstrate oral competence in the Spanish language
          2. Demonstrate written competence in the Spanish language: use grammar and vocabulary to demonstrate written competence in the Spanish language.
          3. Describe the culture(s) of the Spanish-­speaking world
          4. Interpret Spanish-language texts according to their cultural, literary and/or linguistic content.

              Faculty

              Faculty teaching this semester

              Spanish at BCC

              The Spanish program is a strong and vibrant area of study at Berkeley City College. The program offers a complete range of lower division courses and an Associate of Arts Degree and Certificate of Completion. It consistently offers not only introductory courses, such as Spanish 1a and 1b, but also intermediate-level courses such as Spanish 2a and 2b, Spanish 15 (Composition) Spanish 38 and 39 (Literature), and 40 (Culture). Furthermore, the program offers six conversation courses, 30a and 30b (Beginning Conversational Spanish), 31a and 31b (Intermediate Conversational Spanish), and Spanish 10a and 10b (Advanced Conversational Spanish).

              The program also prepares its students for transferring to a four-year institution and completing a Spanish major. It offers the foreign language component required by many institutions for transfer students and helps them to acquire a level of Spanish proficiency necessary for careers that emphasize the value of familiarity with diverse cultures and global issues. The courses Spanish 1a, 1b, 2a and 2b are fully articulated with the University of California at Berkeley. The only prerequisite for upper-division work in Spanish at Berkeley not offered at BCC is Spanish 25: Reading and Literary Analysis. The program at Berkeley City is in the process of creating this course in the near future.

              Spanish Placement Tool and Pre-Requisite/Co-Requisite Challenge

              Nobody wants to be in the wrong class! If it’s too easy, you will be bored and disengaged. If it’s too hard, you feel extremely frustrated. We hope this self-placement tool and the advice of our well-informed counselors will help you start out in the Spanish class that is right for you.

              If you took the pre-requisite level in a different institution or acquired linguistic skills in another context (traveling, living with native speakers, etc.) or you think you do not need the pre-requisite, please jump to “complete the form Petition for Pre-Requisite/Co-Requisite Challenge” at the bottom of this page. Be very careful with this decision. You may assume you are ready for a higher class and you may not be ready. This will not only be a disadvantage for you but also a disruption for the class you are taking.  This is why we highly recommend you to take the self-placement tool anyway.

              Our placement tool is now in Canvas. You will need to be a Peralta student and have a Peralta student account before you can take the tool. First, self-enroll in our BCC Modern Languages Department Resources site here:  https://peralta.instructure.com/enroll/TRGF3M then take the placement tool (you have only ONE attempt).  ¡Buena suerte!

              If you cannot access the site, please contact our helpdesk: canvas@peralta.edu or call 24/7 Canvas support at (844) 600-4955

              When you finish and get your score, check the “SAPE Placement by Tool Score” and see where you place.

              If you place yourself above Spanish 1A, you will need to:

              Make an appointment at the BCC Counseling Office and have them waive the prerequisites so you can enroll in the appropriate class for you. Print or save a copy of your results to show to your counselor. Some counselors may have access to your scores on Canvas to confirm your self-placement.

              OR

              Complete the Petition for Pre-Requisite/Co-Requisite Challenge form and send it to Admissions and Records (BCC-Admissions&Records@peralta.edu) before you register for this class. The Chair of the Modern Language Department has to receive the form from A&R. After he/she reviews the information in the form and if he/she signs the form, you will be added to the class. This process takes no more than a week.

              Español para Nativos

              Spanish for students whose native language is Spanish

              (Más información en español un poco más abajo.)

              If you speak Spanish at home or have lived abroad and learned to speak Spanish without having formal instruction in the language, Spanish 22A and 22B are probably the classes for you.

              Often heritage speakers of Spanish feel that they should enroll in the most basic levels of Spanish (Spanish 1A and 1B) because they haven’t had formal linguistic training in Spanish.  While this may be true, given that they know how to speak Spanish already their needs are very different from someone who is just learning a language for the first time. Rather than taking in information, grammar rules, and vocabulary, the heritage speaker needs to bring out what they already know and evaluate it, enhance it, and standardize it so it can be useful in many settings.

              Spanish 22A and 22B are specifically designed to help you to apply your Spanish skills in reading and writing – to put you on the road to becoming biliterate.  Not only does this class help with your reading and writing, also if it is your intention to transfer to a four-year college or university, having these classes on your transcript indicates that you are a person who speaks, reads, and writes Spanish at an advanced level.

              Si tienes dudas sobre si deberías o no tomar las clases para nativos o tienes cualquier otra alguna duda, contacta al director del departamento: Dr Fabián Banga: fbanga@peralta.edu

              Recuerda que, si ya hablas español, tomar una clase inicial nunca te beneficiar. El Departamento de Lenguas Modernas va a ofrecer todos los semestres una secuencia de cursos online (en línea) para aquellos estudiantes que su lengua materna sea el español o estén a un nivel lo suficientemente avanzados como para tomar cursos de literatura y escritura totalmente en esta lengua y en línea. La secuencia es: español 22A, 22B, 38, 39, 40 y 15. Estos cursos ofrecidos secuencialmente permitirán a estudiantes finalizar los cursos de español de su AA, AAT o CC completamente online. No va a ser obligatorio que el estudiante venga en persona a BCC pero de quererlo, va a poder reunirse con los profesores en horario de oficina ya sea en persona o virtualmente. Es importante que antes de anotarse en los cursos los estudiantes se reúnan por lo menos una vez, en persona o virtualmente (vía email o por teléfono) con el director del departamento para recibir asesoría y consultar si estas clases son las apropiadas para ellas/os.  El programa va a ser enteramente en español.

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