I. Tira cómica

Ana and Pablo discuss their classes and Ana gives advice about how Pablo can do well in math.

II. ¿Te fijaste que…? La educación en el mundo hispano

El sistema escolar

Conexión cultural: El sistema escolar

As in the United States, in Spanish-speaking countries, some sort of schooling is required from around the edad de seis años until early teen years, normalmente los quince o dieciséis años. In most places, this educación obligatoria is split into primaria and secundaria, with a few additional years as preparatoria, or more geared toward college or career readiness. In certain countries, como España, the preparatoria years take place in a separate building with a distinct name and course of study.

Depending on the student and the available schools and resources, it is sometimes possible to begin to specialize in the last few years of secondary or preparatory education. While all students study a set of core subjects, called el tronco común, some may begin to take more in-depth or hands-on courses to prepare for college study or a particular career. Students who complete secondary and preparatory study often receive a bachillerato, which tends to be required for entrance into a university and is most often equivalent to an American high school diploma. There is national and regional variation with the term. In Chile, a bachillerato is a two-year university degree and in Costa Rica, students earn a bachiller de educación media before attending university to complete their bachillerato in a specific field of study.^[1]

There are many educational terms that, like bachillerato, often represent a false cognate, or a word that sounds similar to a word in a different language but has a substantially different meaning. While bachillerato sounds like “bachelor’s degree,” in most cases, it’s more equivalent to a high school diploma. Similarly, colegio typically—though not exclusively—refers to primary and/or secondary education, not “college” in the sense that in the United States, college refers to an institution of higher education. In certain places, colegio refers to a private rather than public institution, and in others, it is a more common word for escuela, or school. It can also refer to a professional organization, such as Colegio Médico. Meanwhile, the word licenciatura, which sounds like “license,” most commonly refers to a university-level degree but can also be a professional license or even a graduate degree.

Sistemas de evaluación

Conexión cultural: Sistemas de evaluación

What do you think when you hear the words grade, nota, or calificación? In the United States, there are three different systems that work together to determine a student’s level of success: percentage, grade point average (GPA), and most importantly, letter grade. While the percentage equivalent of letter grades varies depending on the institution, program, and even professor, the grade letters A, B, C, D, and F are universally understood in the US to signify a student’s level of achievement.

While terms such as sobresaliente or distinguido (excellent or outstanding); bueno, aprobado, or suficiente (good, pass, or sufficient); and reprobado or suspenso (failed) are used and understood across Spanish-speaking countries, a numerical system of grading is the way to evaluate students. Mexico, Argentina, Costa Rica, and Spain grade 1–10, with 1 being low and 10 high, though the passing grade (usually 5 or 6) varies. In Chile, students are ranked 1–7, with 4 representing a passing grade. Bolivia and Panama rate students out of 100; Venezuela and Peru out of 20; Uruguay out of 12; and Paraguay, Cuba, and Colombia out of 5.^[2]

Despite these variations, one constant across Spanish-speaking countries is that the higher the number, the better the score. While this notion is consistent with US grading practices as well, it is by no means universal.

Grade inflation and el examen de admisión

Conexión cultural: Grade inflation and el examen de admisión

In addition to these differences, it is important to note that in the United States, it is much more common to earn extremely high grades. American students often feel immense pressure to maintain a certain GPA or achieve a minimum B+ or A− in their classes. While students in all countries certainly desire to and feel pressure to be successful, how that success is measured varies.

In Spanish-speaking countries, it is much less common to earn extremely high grades such as As or perfect 10s (or 5s, 12s, or 20s). Whereas almost any student who can afford it can attend a college in the United States—if not the most prestigious or with a “full ride”—universities are generally much less expensive but also much more competitive in the Hispanic world.

Students must not only be accepted into the university of their choice but, more importantly, be accepted into the facultad, or school, within the university—think School of Business, School of Nursing, School of Arts, School of History. In order to gain acceptance, prospective students must study for and achieve a high score on a rigorous entrance exam administered by the university or a testing organization, along with meeting other entrance criteria. While standardized college entrance exams are being given increasingly less weight in the United States, with many universities now waiving the requirement for the SAT or ACT, these exams continue to be an integral (and nerve-wracking) part of the college admissions process for students in Spanish-speaking countries. Furthermore, most universities and facultades do not specify a minimum passing grade; students are compared with other prospective students in their cohort, and each group vies for a limited number of spaces. It is not uncommon, therefore, for students to sit more than once for the exam in order to gain entrance to the universidad and facultad of their choosing.

La vida universitaria

Conexión cultural: La vida universitaria

Together with differences in the division of educational levels, grading, cost, and competitiveness, there are some fundamental differences in the type of experience students expect from their university studies. You might have noticed an emphasis on the word university or universidad throughout these pages. That’s because institutions of higher education in Spanish-speaking countries tend to be larger, with a focus on both undergraduate and graduate studies and research. This is what distinguishes a university (focus on research, inclusion of graduate programs) from a “college” (smaller, undergraduate only) in the United States.

As has already been mentioned, most universities in Spanish-speaking countries cost a fraction of what it costs to attend an American college or university. For example, in Spain, the average yearly cost for university studies is €1,300, whereas the sticker price for American colleges and universities can easily be ten, twenty, or thirty times higher (or more!) per year. A good portion of these additional costs have to do with the plethora of activities, services, and facilities offered at American colleges and universities. These include student support services, housing and meal services, and special facilities and extracurricular offerings, all of which contribute to the notion of “college life” or “campus life” particular to the US. Of course, not all American students live on campus or participate in the clubs, activities, and organizations offered by their universities. On the other hand, in Spanish-speaking countries, the norm is for students to live and eat at home and go to the university just to attend class. Most universities still do offer student housing for those who for a variety of reasons may need a place to stay, but these students are the minority.

III. Ampliación: El papel de la universidad

IV. Vocabulario

V. Video entrevistas

VI. Gramática

5-A. El presente progesivo

The present progressive or continuous is a tense that is used to indicate that an action is taking place or is in progress at the moment of discourse. This is the same in English and in Spanish.

Examples:

Right now, I am writing a message.

Ahora, estoy escribiendo un mensaje.

In English, the present participle is formed by using a form of the verb to be and a present participle. The present participle is formed by adding -ing to the verb:

I am drinking water.

She is watching TV.

In Spanish, the present progressive is formed by using a form of the verb estar plus a present participle. In order to form the present participle, it is necessary to do the following:

1. Drop the ending of the verb. This is the -ar, -er, or -ir located at the end of the verb.
2. Add the following endings:

For -ar verbs: -ando

For -er and -ir verbs: -ando or -iendo

See the examples below:

In both English and Spanish, the same present participle is used for all the forms. The form of estar in Spanish or of the verb to be in English determines who is doing the action.

Example:

Yo estoy jugando videojuegos.—I am playing video games.

Mi hermana está jugando a las cartas.—My sister is playing cards.

In Spanish, when the present participle of a verb has three vowels together, it has a spelling change in which the middle vowel changes to a y. This usually happens with -er and -ir verbs that have two vowels together.

Examples:

Leer: Leyendo (not leiendo)

Mi madre está leyendo un libro.

Creer: Creyendo (not creiendo)

No estoy creyendo nada de lo que dice.

Traer: Trayendo (not traiendo)

¿Quién está trayendo el café?

Actividad 5.22. ¿Qué están haciendo?

Look at the images and indicate what each person is doing.

	Modelo: Ella está escuchando música
	Yo
	Mi madre
	Los estudiantes
	Los amigos
	Nosotros

Actividad 5.23. ¿Qué están haciendo y dónde lo hacen?

Indicate what people are doing and where they are doing it.

	Modelo: Los estudiantes están haciendo experimentos de química en el laboratorio.

5-B. Ser versus estar resumen

In previous chapters, you have learned that the verbs ser and estar both mean “to be” in English. However, they are used for different purposes. Below is a summary of the uses for each verb.

5-C. Pronombres de complemento indirecto

Several times in the tira, Pablo says, “Mi consejero me dice…” There are several possible translations of this phrase, which literally says “My advisor tells me.” Even though the word order is different between English and Spanish, don’t be fooled into thinking that the me means that I is the subject of the sentence. The me here functions as an indirect object pronoun, representing the noun that is indirectly receiving the action of the verb, tell.

Mi consejero me dice…

(Subject) (indirect object) (verb, conjugated to match the subject)

Indirect objects are people, places, and things that receive or are affected indirectly by the action of a verb. You can find the indirect object of a verb by asking “To or for whom (or what)?” to find the indirect object of a sentence. To whom did the advisor tell the information? To Pablo—or in his case, “to me.” Indirect objects in Spanish are typically expressed through a pronoun—a more general word that takes the place of a specific noun. Whereas in English, we need to say “(to) me, (to) you, (to) him, (to) her, (to) us, and (to) them,” in Spanish, we can say “a mí, a tí, a él, a ella, a nosotros, a vosotros, a ustedes,” but we must include an indirect object pronoun—“me, te, lo, la, nos, os, los, las”—before the verb. Take, for example, the following sentences:

Mi amigo me habla.—My friend talks to me.

Ana te da un abrazo.—Ana gives you a hug.

Indirect object pronouns in Spanish can be tricky for native speakers of English because of two main differences:

1. Indirect object pronouns can be hard to identify in English. They sometimes have a preposition (“My friend talks to me”) and sometimes do not (“Ana gives you a hug”). Sometimes the indirect object is simply implied, as in “My advisor says…” though clearly the advisor is saying the advice to someone.
2. The placement of the indirect object pronoun is very different.
   1. In English, object pronouns are placed after the verb: “My friend talks to me,” “Ana gives you a hug.”
   2. In Spanish, the pronoun is placed before the conjugated verb rather than after it, as in English.
   3. In Spanish, the object pronoun can also be attached to the end of an infinitive, as in “¿Quieres decirme?” or “Más tarde va a gustarle.”

There are also a couple of other situations in which the pronoun can be attached to the end of a verb, but in order to begin to change the order of your thinking (to “My friend to me speaks” from “My friend speaks to me”), it’s a good idea to get in the habit of placing the pronoun before the conjugated verb. It can never go on its own after a conjugated verb, as in “Mi amiga habla me.”

Similar to English, however, there are unique pronouns for each person. Refer to the chart below for the indirect object pronouns in Spanish and their meaning in English.

Indirect object pronouns are almost always used if there is someone or something to or for whom the action takes place. It can be helpful to mentally pair certain verbs with indirect object pronouns, since they tend to go together. Two verbs that you have already learned that often take an indirect object pronoun are decir and dar.

When someone is telling someone something or giving something to someone, in Spanish, you should include an indirect object pronoun. This is different from American English, where we might omit the indirect object altogether. For example, in the phrase “Mi consejero me dice,” we might just as often say “My advisor says.” In Spanish, though, we do want to include the indirect object pronoun if someone is being directly spoken to, is receiving something, or is generally indirectly affected by the action of the verb. Another example is gustar and verbs like it.

5-D. Verbos como gustar

We have already seen the phrases me gusta and te gusta to talk about preferences regarding activities. While we tend to translate me gusta as “I like,” it is important to note that this structure in Spanish is very different from the verb like in English. The main difference is that gustar and verbs like it take an indirect object pronoun and have a different subject than the person who likes or doesn’t like an activity. The best literal translation of the verb gustar is “to be pleasing to,” since that translation accounts for the fact that the thing or activity is actually the subject of the verb, and the person to whom the activity is pleasing is represented using a direct object pronoun.

When I say “Me gusta correr (en el parque),” I am actually saying “Running (in the park) is pleasing to me.” The subject of the verb gustar is the activity correr and not yo. This is always the case with gustar and similar verbs. Below is a chart with verbs like gustar that take indirect object pronouns. They are categorized according to whether they express more positive or more negative opinions. Note that you can also make the positive verbs negative by adding a no, as in “No me gusta correr.”