Definitely one of the harsher graders in the Spanish department. Although Spanish isn't graded on participation at UCLA anymore, when it was, she would grade very harshly. You needed to speak multiple times every class to get full marks, which is tough to do in a short class period. Written and oral exams are graded very harshly, you need to be nearly fluent to receive a perfect score. Lacking complex vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure would make you lose at least one point.

Also, Spanish 1 at UCLA is not meant for beginners. We jumped in quite fast and were expected to already have knowledge on conjugations, numbers, colors, and common phrases. Be warned.

Taking Spanish 3 after not having taken a Spanish class for nearly four years was very daunting, but Cristina made the class so enjoyable and doable. She was very helpful and even took the time to recommend specific ways we could get more exposure to the language outside of class materials in order to be more successful - she even recommended a few Netflix shows. It was a flipped classroom format so most of the learning was done on MySpanishLab (super overpriced combined with the price of the book but I’m pretty sure every Spanish 3 class requires it), but when the class came upon topics that were more difficult or we were struggling, she would give presentations in class to clarify or give extra exercises during class time so that we could get more comfortable with the topic. If you have to take Spanish 3 and you have the option to take it with Cristina, I’d highly recommend.

I am so, so, so grateful for Cristina. After taking IB Spanish in high school and not getting credit for it, and then not passing the exemption exam, I was both frustrated and apprehensive about needing to take a language class at UCLA. Fortunately, Cristina more than made up for that. She is kind, funny, engaging, and always eager to help her students succeed. She is a friendly instructor and a fair grader, and she is always helpful in working around any problems students might have with assignments or grades. Overall, I would highly encourage anyone who needs to take Spanish 3 here to take it with her. Way to go, Cristina!

I very much enjoyed my experience with Cristina over the last two quarters. She is truly committed to making sure you're not only prepared for exams, but that you actually immerse yourself in the Spanish language and enjoy learning it. Her slides were always engaging and she is very accommodating.

This class does have a required attendance component; there are only two lectures (1h 15min) a week that are mandatory in order to receive full credit for participation for that week. Usually, the class is structured so that you learn new material through an online homework system, MyLab, and then practice it in class with the professor and in breakout rooms. Although Cristina's lectures were always very clear, the MyLab component could be frustrating sometimes because of the sheer volume of assignments (sometimes up to 80 due before one class) and complex material. The attempts are unlimited, but I always had a hard time figuring out grammatical rules and weird structures over MyLab. I wish the course were structured so that the MyLab was used as a practice AFTER the professor teaches the lesson rather than the other way around, but I guess that's just the nature of the flipped-classroom and ultimately outside of the professor's control.

The exams were very straightforward. There's a midterm and a final, each broken up into three parts--an oral, a written, and a reading/listening. I always felt I had adequate practice and performed relatively well on the written and reading/listening. I appreciate that Cristina is very generous while grading the oral exam (usually in a partner group or a 4-person group) given she understands we are new to the language and that speaking can be very difficult.

Overall, I would highly recommend taking this course with Cristina if you have the opportunity--you will not regret it!