3.2
Quality3.2
Difficulty45%
Would Retake88
Reviews45%
Would Retake
88
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
30
4
10
3
15
2
16
1
17
What Students Say
“Benavente is one of the best spanish profs Ive ever had”
SPAN210 - 5.0 rating“She made my favorite subject the worst class I have ever taken”
SPAN209 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
89%
Textbook Required
67%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.51 avg changeRatings by Course
SPNBNV
5.0
(1)SPANI122
5.0
(1)SPAN004
5.0
(1)SPANISH200
5.0
(1)209
4.5
(4)Difficulty by Course
109
4.6
S122
4.0
SPAN2O9
4.0
SPAN122
3.8
SPAN109
3.7
Reviews (88)
I know my ratings weren't that good and she does not seem good on paper, but she is. You make the A by studying the vocab.
From Spain, so thinks only Spain dialects are correct. Teaches vosotros form. Grades dubjectively, very critical. Plays favorites. She's easy and relaxed in class, but and then the tests come out of nowhere. Is generally late to class. Takes a while for her get your grades back. Talks during every test and quiz so it's very hard to concentrate.
From Spain, so thinks only Spain dialects are correct. Teaches vosotros form. Grades dubjectively, very critical. Plays favorites. She's easy and relaxed in class, but and then the tests come out of nowhere. Is generally late to class. Takes a while for her get your grades back. Talks during every test and quiz so it's very hard to concentrate.
From Spain, so thinks only Spain dialects are correct. Teaches vosotros form. Grades dubjectively, very critical. Plays favorites. She's easy and relaxed in class, but and then the tests come out of nowhere. Is generally late to class. Takes a while for her get your grades back. Talks during every test and quiz so it's very hard to concentrate.
She is a good professor. Her accent is a little rough because she is from Spain. The Spanish department doesn't make the professors lives easy because the dept. makes the tests/quizes/projects. She tries hard to make sure the class understands the class. If you do the work, an A is definitely possible.
Very nice lady however, not the best teacher in the world. She doesn't make class interesting at all...and she does not explain things very well. You basically have to teach yourself. I would not recommend her.
She's a pretty sweet lady, so it's hard to really not like her. But she's not the best spanish teacher. The class moves really slowly and it's not very clear. But she's not mean. And she has a strong spanish accent, and she thinks the spanish conjugations are the only right ones.
Sweet lady most of the time, always stresses out, does not have a very good hold of the english language, she teaches vosotros and she's castillian...Pretty easy class so far, just do the homework and go to class
I learned a lot with her, more than all my three prior years in this language. Now I like Spanish much more than before. She is fun and very cool, and we enjoyed being with her.
Great teaching and very nice
great! i love it! i learned a lot!
No Comments
I recommend her. She really tries everyone to learn and also makes classes fun. She talks about cultural things that help to understand the language too. I would take her again.
She can be tough and critical at times if you make mistakes, but as a person she is very likable. She includes a ton of cultural information, which i personally enjoy. She provided more cultural information than any Spanish teacher I've ever had.
Senora Benavente is really sweet and tries really hard to teach you. She is a good teacher, but her accent is very thick, so if you have an issue with accents, don't take her. If you can be willing to be patient, then I would recommend you take her. Also, if you are placed into SPAN 122, ask her about back credit for SPAN 121
Very hard to understand and very critical. At the beginning you find yourself volunteering than after you realize that she is criticizing you volunteers began to decrease and then she calls on you. If you can understand people with thick accents and don't mind being randomly called on take her if not drop as soon as possible!!
She means well, but her accent and teaching style need work. Likes to joke around and is actually pretty funny. Grading is sporadic but usually on the easy side. However, randomly she will destroy one of your tests or writings. Picks favorites. Got an A with minimal effort. Tests are from book
She grades homework based on your effort and not accuracy. She's funny and tries to make class interesting. The tests come straight from the book. I'm definitely taking her SPAN 210 next semester!
She is really nice and a great teacher overall. I agree with some people here like her accent is strong because she is Spanish and yes you should learn vosotros no matter what. A lot of culture is integrated by her. Anyway, tests are based on books primarily. If you know you're material well from the book then it's not hard to get an A.
She is the best teacher I ever had. She includes a lot of information, not only the mandatory from book and made it interesting and fun. I will take it again in the future!
Thanks to her I want to minor in Spanish. She is a great teacher. I learnt a lot and was able to speak without fear... I will take her again and again..
Great teacher! Very helpful and she makes class fun to come to. It can be tough to make an A because of the 92 required in the Spanish department but if you do the work and come to class you will get a good great and learn a lot. For sure taking her for Span 210!
Absolutely terrible teacher. Goes off on tangents, holds us late each day. Does zero review before tests. Class is relatively easy as long as you keep up with the syllabus, but I find her teaching style to be highly annoying.
This is an easy class if you do the homework and study the book. However, this teacher is not the best. She is unclear when she speaks, she talks in circles and confuses herself and the students, and she doesn't know what's going on half the time. Take her if you are good at Spanish, but if you're looking for a simple A--not here.
She's a nice person, but when it comes to being a teacher she is not the greatest. Her accent is difficult to understand. Instructions on most things are extremely unclear. Grading is extremely harsh.
She is so amazingly nice. I participated in class by just answering some weird questions and barely studied for the quizzes because she always went over the material before the quiz. Form a study group or use her office hours to ask questions because the exams were structured like a high school test.
Not the best. Sometimes doesn't even know what she's talking about. Wasn't very understanding when it came to grades and even questioned the integrity of my grades. Has a lot of expectations she doesn't explicitly state.
Benavente is one of the sweetest ladies that I have ever met. She truly truly cares about her students. Attendance is mandatory. If you are late, it is lot the biggest deal; just do not be late often. She is a great professor and is better than most because she is a native speaker. Take her class. You won't be disappointed.
She tries to be a good teacher but her accent is very hard to understand at times. Her teaching style can be annoying, but there are few quizzes. She does go over material before tests and quizzes. Sometimes she seems unsure of herself though. More advanced students have had to correct her at times while she was teaching.
I chose to say would take again, because I did take her again! I loved Senora Benavente and she loved our class. She is awesome and if you take even the slightest amount of time to show her that you are interested in her class, and like the spanish language you will receive all the help she can give you. Love her, and loved the class
She was interesting to listen to when she talked about her past experiences. She's also a nice woman, fairly relaxed, willing to work with you if there are any problems, and she wants you to learn Spanish. Class and exams were super easy, and she's not at all a strict grader. Lots of vocabulary. I would definitely recommend her as a professor.
Sweet woman, very helpful and funny. Lots of short quizzes (easy for the most part). Fair grader
Benavente is a really sweet and funny woman who really cares about her students. She wants students to do well and if you ask for help, she's more than willing to help you. She cares that her students think about real-world problems, which is nice to see in a professor. She's a tough grader and doesn't give easy points! She makes you earn it!
Benavente is one of the best spanish profs Ive ever had. Because she is a native spanish speaker she really explains the language in a way that is fluid and makes sense, and makes you think about it outside of the classroom. She keeps her lectures interesting and really cares about all of her students. I would definitely take her again
One of the things I loved about Benavente is how she gets so into the topics and makes each class really interesting. Shes so sweet and funny and goes over things until everyone gets it.
She is not a nice person in general. English is her second language and it is very obvious, I have found many language barriers with her. She does not help you out at all about making up assignments. When emailing her she can be very rude and her emails have genuinely upset me on multiple occasions.
Profe Benavente is an excellent professor. She is incredibly sweet, hilarious, and has great stories that make class more fun to go to! She makes students really work for their grades, but at the same time she is fair (if you earn it) and will help you in any way she can. Her accent is easy to understand if you speak Spanish. I really liked her!!!
Grading on tests is inconsistent... sometimes you'll lose one point and sometimes 3 for the same mistakes. She's really nice & knows the material, gets off topic easily. Tests are kind of a free for all.
Loved Prof. Benavente so much I'm taking her class again for 210. She's from Spain so she knows her spanish. She really cares that you learn. Tests aren't too tough as long as you pay attention in class and study.
Would not take this class again by any means. She goes on an 8 point grading scale as opposed to most other classes which are on a 10 point scale. Also when she grades I'm not sure that she enters in your real grades I'm pretty sure she enters what she thinks you got instead of actually looking through the online homework scores. Always late too.
I loved having Benavente! She is a really sweet lady and accessible outside of class. I think she really cares about her students even though sometimes she'll call you out during class. Overall, would take her again
Benavente was a different Spanish teacher than what I was used to. She is a bit unorganized and would sometimes do things differently than what the syllabus said. Overall, she wants you to learn and her class was not that hard. She cares about you as a student and as a person.
honestly, she's rude. it's a small class where participation matters but she's very critical and creates an environment where students aren't comfortable answering her questions or reading their work aloud. her grading is meticulous; she takes off points for small grammar mistakes like a misplaced accent mark or misspelled conjugation. avoid her
Class was easy but really boring. Be prepared for Benavente to call you out in front of the class for just about anything, doesn't even have to relate to the class. Very rude especially if you don't know the answer. Nice lady and very funny at times but does not have a lot of respect for students.
Would strongly recommend NOT taking Benavente. She will randomly call students out when she knows they don't know the answer. She is not helpful at all if you actually want to learn to speak Spanish better. Arrives late much of the time. She gives you an oral grade at the end of the semester that does not fairly represent your speaking ability.
Bad lecturer, most things are taught by homework, not flexible of very caring to students, gives no real feedback or help as to how to improve grade. Never had a problem with spanish, its my minor, but she made me really dislike the subject. Very spacey and gets off topic, most classes I was unsure what the actual objective of the day was.
Benavente taught and clarified several things for me, but her lectures are very scatter brained and she is never on time. There is a decent amount of homework but nothing you wouldn't expect. The grading scale for Spanish is 92-100, and although it is not her fault, it is almost impossible to get an A. Key word almost. Have to put in some work.
Benavente is a Spanish professor, but her lack of English speaking skills makes it difficult to learn. Class is always disorganized and we will spend a majority of time having completely off topic discussions. You will succeed by teaching yourself. I would not want to have her again.
DO NOT TAKE HER. She made my favorite subject the worst class I have ever taken. I have always done well in Spanish, and I am not afraid to work for a grade, but she made this class almost in impossible to succeed in.
Although a little disorganized at times, she really cares about her students and is good at explaining the material. She's super sweet, but she does grade pretty hard. She really wants her students to learn the material. The class is mainly discussion based and participation is necessary.
I took spanish in high school and covered the exact same material as was taught in this class but barely scraped by with an A. The homework is very time consuming but not too hard. She doesn't believe in teaching in class so you have to put in a lot of time, not accessible outside of class and rarely responds to emails. Don't take if you want an A.
can't/doesn't speak english. doesn't give extra help or explanations. does not give feedback. very unorganized. very very rude. does not care about her students. extremely hard class.
if you would like to genuinely learn/ improve your spanish, do not take her class. If you struggle with spanish and need a teacher to actually teach/ help you learn in class, do not take her class. if you would like a teacher who is nice and cares for her students, do not take her class.
Her English is not great, making it hard to get any explanations or clarifications in English. Today in class, we were supposed to be reviewing, but instead she yelled at us for 50 mins because someone yawned at 9 am.
100% would recommend taking her. She is hilarious and cares about her students. She can sometimes get distracted and go off on tangents. A lot of online homework, but very helpful, especially for grammar topics. Her tests are easy if you study. The homeworks and her lessons help you learn as you go along, so I've never had to cram for a test.
I love Spanish, Benavente is one of the worst Spanish teachers I have ever had. We learn everything online, homework is intensive, in class discussions have nothing to do with the material we are supposed to be learning because she goes off on tangents all the time. Attendance is mandatory but you won't learn a thing in class.
Worst teacher at USC. She gave me 4 absences when I only had 3. Gives you zeros, does not care about her students. She cannot speak English.
Theres a lot of homework and the homework basically teaches you because in class she goes over examples and she can be late sometimes. Im hispanic but she made this class unbearable for me.
the homework that is assigned is the most random homework I've ever had. some of the questions ask things that we haven't even gone over. english is clearly not her first language, which is obviously fine, but she tried to say that somethin was due on one date and then said that wasn't what she meant, and it was confusing and half the class got a 0
This is the worst professor I have ever had in my life. She lives in Spain and English is not her first language. Terrible at answering emails, said she had no internet or was traveling, Funny cause the wifi went out at school & we had an exam due and she blamed us for not taking the exam the day before even tho we had two days to take the exam.
Online class. Lots of homework but everything is posted so you can work ahead. Taking notes is a must. Respondus lockdown browser for every test. May take 24-48 hours to respond to an email (even on weekdays). But will correct any issues. All work is submitted through MHEducation. Not bad overall, just requires a lot of work/note taking.
She randomly changed everyone in my sections grades drastically into percentages within hours before the final exam was posted. Making it really confusing when you're unsure what you need to make on the final to pass. She definitely does not understand how blackboard's grading works either. Her emails regarding our concerns never made sense.
She is honestly the worse professor I have ever had in my life. She dropped my grade an entire letter grade within 2 days and failed to give me an explanation when I asked for one. Does not give instruction or feedback, but expects you to be perfect. Relays too heavily on online instruction and fails to prepare students for exams.
I can't believe I had to pay for this class. It was an online class and everything you do is through Mcgraw hill website that you have to pay $100 for. She was constantly hours late opening the exams and provided no help. The homework is extremely excessive and most of the kids in my class struggled. I would not recommend her to anyone. 0/10
The day before the exam my grade dropped from a b- to a d+ with no explanation. Everything is on McGraw hill, and she repeatedly would forget to upload exams. Everyone in my section struggled considering our grades dropped 1 or 2 letter grades as classes were concluding. Highly recommend not to take her this class ruined my gpa.
Professor Benavente is definitely a really nice lady, but her lecture style can be very hard to follow. She assigns really long homework assignments due every MWF, and sometimes they took up to an hour and a half to complete. Make sure you study the homework and actually watch the videos she assigns, because she genuinely puts them on her tests.
She is nice but not a great professor. Her tests are on everything from the unit so make sure to study all readings. She will put super specific questions on exams that have nothing to do with your competence in Spanish which is pretty annoying. Long hws due MWF but they are all on quizlet.
Great person - not a good professor for 209. She assumed we were all at a higher level than we were...in first class, thought I was in 300 level on accident bc she talked fast & didn't clarify anything - turns out everyone else was just as confused. English is her 2nd language - forces you to be better, but if you're confused, you'll stay confused.
By far my favorite spanish professor I've had so far. She's super passionate and caring about her students well being/class in general. Make sure you participate because it goes a long way!! Keep up with homework, make quizlets for grammar/vocab and you'll get an A
PLEASE READ. Even though her teaching style isn't always the best, she invests time in getting to know us and helping us grow as both students and individuals. She is always willing to listen and improve in her class, and she genuinely cares about every single one of her students. Such a sweet and kind woman...I highly recommend taking her class.
She really looks out for her students. You can tell she's very passionate about teaching, and it's shown. There's lots of homework, per every other spanish 121 course, and you should be ready to participate. You'll have to put alot of work to get an A, but it's easily attainable with her if you try hard.
Very funny, but hard and long exams.
I recommend taking professor Benavente. Out of all my Spanish professors, she has graded the easiest and most fair. The only reason I gave her a 4 is becuase she does not prepare powerpoint lessons in advance, and rather just talks and hands out worksheets.
She was extremely rude to me and other students in my class. She expected us to already be completely fluent and would talk about student's confidential conversations in front of the whole class. She wouldn't round up the one point I needed to get a B and made me hate taking Spanish.
Professor Benavente is honestly a good professor. As long as you complete the VHL and show up to class, you'll be fine. The tests aren't very hard and you practice a lot in class. I'd take her class again if I got the chance.
This professor gets a lot of hate when she really does teach well. If you listen, complete the homework, and watch for her emails, you will easily ace this class no matter what. There is a lot of homework on VHL but that's normal for a Spanish class here. She also makes sure to review material that students do not understand before moving on.
There's pros and cons. The homework is a lot, but that's normal. She doesn't prepare PowerPoints and kind of just talks (which you could love or hate). There's a lot of talking in class which is super helpful! She's funny and accommodating but expects you to know a lot of the language, and sometimes it seems like she thinks its easy to learn.
amazing professor. explains concepts really well and wants students to understand it. is okay with going over the more confusing aspects multiple times. just a really nice and awesome professor and person over all. there is a good bit of homework but as long as you pay attention in class and ask questions, you'll do fine on HW and exams.
Lectures in Spanish, speaks little English in general. She has a sweet heart but grades heavy and has high expectations. VERY test heavy, lots of Spanish-speaking participation in class, lots of studying outside the classroom. I have never received a B in a Spanish class before this one.
Profesora Benavente was okay. She was a little bit of a tough grader, although she gave lots of encouragement and would work with you if you asked. She was nice, but just a little nit-picky about everything. She does not give out study guides, which makes her tests harder. If you can avoid taking her, do it. If not, just be prepared to study.
Profa. Benavente was my favorite professor during my freshman year. Definitely the funniest. She has high expectations so pay attention and do online work. She knows English well. She has an accent but not hard to understand. Participation is key in her class. Go to office hours. She has the best stories and jokes in class too.
She is hilarious and makes class engaging. There's lots of homework so prepare for that. The exams are not super hard but everything you learn is fair game. She's not very lenient so show up and participate if you want her to like you.
This was one of the best professors that I've ever taken. No quizzes ever and the tests are really straightforward. I'll be honest there is so much online homework BUT a lot of the answers are online and it's an easy grade booster. She's honestly really funny and cares about you understanding the material. Just put in the effort and you'll be fine!
She's honestly the worst Spanish professor I have taken, I feel like I had to teach myself everything and she gives little to no guidance on exams and preparing for them. She's pretty unorganized, and while she is nice it takes her forever to grade anything. I personally wouldn't take her again.
Super sweet lady who is passionate about teaching. You do have to study for exams but paying attention in class helps a lot and she is a good teacher when you do the HW and understand what she means. Exams are in person and she is a fair grader with respect to how much you studied (studying pays off). And she is laid back with late work/projects.
This professor is great! There is a lot of grammar to be covered and she does a good job at explaining the concepts in a coherent manner. She is very accessible online and in person. She cares a lot about her students and wants everyone to succeed. I would definitely recommend taking her i had her for both 209 210.
Had her for 209 and 210. She is caring and really wants students to learn. The class is moderately challenging but if you go to class regularly and do the homework, you'll do well. You get 4 unexcused absences. She is very easy to reach by email and will help you with anything. If you are serious about learning Spanish take her classes!
She's sweet and was nice to my class. i also really enjoy learning Spanish. its a reverse classroom model so you teach yourself and she goes over it in class. the only downside is you do not do a lot of writing and speaking in class. it's more of her talking. but overall a really nice and solid teacher
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
89%
Textbook Required
67%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.51 avg changeRatings by Course
SPNBNV
5.0
(1)SPANI122
5.0
(1)SPAN004
5.0
(1)SPANISH200
5.0
(1)209
4.5
(4)Difficulty by Course
109
4.6
S122
4.0
SPAN2O9
4.0
SPAN122
3.8
SPAN109
3.7