Spanish Department Prerequisites

Irvine Valley College

Course	Prerequisite
Spanish 1 and 1A	no prerequisite
Spanish 1B	Spanish 1A or 1 year of high school Spanish
Spanish 2 and 2A	Spanish 1 or 1B or 2 years of high school Spanish
Spanish 2B	Spanish 2A or three years of high school Spanish
Spanish 3	Spanish 2 or 2B or four years of high school Spanish
Spanish 4	Spanish 3 or five years of high school Spanish
Spanish 10	Spanish 2 or 3 years of high school Spanish

We have deliberately set our prerequisites high due to the nature of our program. We use an approach we call “Natural Approach” and our instructors speak only Spanish from the beginning of Spanish 1. We put a heavy emphasis on comprehension of native spoken Spanish, acquisition of a large functional vocabulary, and the ability to read materials intended for native speakers, signs, menus, essays, short stories and other forms of written communication. We have found that many high school students are unprepared for a course of this rigor, hence our prerequisite policy.

If you feel that your preparation will allow you to succeed in a higher level course, please see Challenging a Course.