Your best chance for success in class will come from your enthusiasm and willingness to participate, make mistakes, and try out new things. Instructors will generally measure participation based on the following criteria:
Preparedness
Involvement in classroom activities - in the foreign language
Contribution to small group work and activities
Attendance
Your presence in class is crucial. Poor attendance, no matter how well you do on exams, is a sure way to earn a poor grade.
At Home
Daily Preparation
Expect and plan for extensive daily preparation and study outside of the classroom.
Learn from Your Mistakes
Correct mistakes you made on previous homework and exams. Past corrected tests and homework are great tools for preparing for midterms and finals.
Build Vocabulary
Make flashcards
Practice with a friend aloud.
Define and remember words by synonyms and antonyms.
Create sentences.
Don't forget to drill verb conjugations and various forms of adjectives.
Study Aloud
Reading the texts aloud and reviewing exercises orally is an excellent way to improve your pronunciation, comprehension, and overall confidence in your language ability.
Produce Information
Try to use grammatical structures you have learned in sentences and short paragraphs.
Getting Help
Office Hours
When you're unable to correct your work or don't understand concepts instructors are very willing to work with you. When meeting with your instructor make sure you:
have a clear idea of what you need help with
bring materials (past tests, your textbook and workbook, past homework)
Tutoring
The Academic Achievement and Access Center maintains a listing of people who are tutors for hire in specific courses/areas. Stop by the SDC and take a look or call KU Information Center (864-3506) for tutor information.
Additionaly, each individual language department may also have information about available tutoring.
Class Schedule Worksheet (82 KB)
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