gregh313

so technically i don't HAVE to take a language course because i barely scraped a 4 off my ap spanish test. but i really wanted to continue in spanish (maybe spend a quarter in a spanish-speaking country?) and wanted to brush up on my korean too! at first i wanted to learn more random languages too like russian or french, but i figured i should be realistic.

the problem is, i know each language course is 5 credits/qtr. i DO NOT plan on taking more than 15 credits in my first quarter (and hopefully for all my years), so i wasn't sure if taking a language course was worth it.

are language courses at stanford difficult? or is it more of a time commitment to practice speaking, writing, etc.

veggie delight

The difficulty of language classes really depends on the language.
Mandarin, for example, I really difficult, not just in terms of workload but because it's fast paced and grading is pretty harsh. Spanish on the other hand is really pretty easy. It's a fair amount of busy work but as long as you make an effort and participate in class, you're pretty much guaranteed an 'A'. You might consider going a little over 15 units if one of your classes is Spanish. Think of it more as a unit bargain, a three or four unit time commitment where they happen to give you 5 units.