Graciela Vidal - Duke University

Professor: Graciela Vidal

Department: TBD

College: Duke University

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: SPAN203
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Professor Vidal needs to be teaching 300 or 400 level Spanish classes. She has a heavy accent and you can barely understand what she is saying. I was lost the entire 11 weeks. you can not speak any English in her classes. Don't dare ask her a question in English. This is the worst I have ever done any any Spanish class. I am surprised I passed.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: SPAN203
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

For some reason lots of people on here don't like her, but she was a great professor. She made what could be a boring class interesting by varying the activities and ways we engaged with the material. Very accessible outside of class. Quizzes and midterms/finals are fine if you prepare well.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: SPA301
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Graciela is by far the best professor the Spanish department has to offer. She is a fair grader and gives excellent feedback on written assignments. Spanish 301 is structured by the department as a whole, but she does a good job of making it manageable and interesting. She has clear expectations and wants students to learn and succeed.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: SPANISH301
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Graciela's rating on here is very unfair/not reflective of her whatsoever. I had her for both 204 and 301, and she's been one of my favorite professors at Duke. She cares a lot about her students, and if you get to know her is very nice and funny. Gives great feedback on papers and assignments, and her expectations are very clear. Very fair grader

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: SPAN102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Gets a bad rep but if you try your best, she'll definitely see that and will help you out. She wants to see you succeed and understands that Spanish at Duke isn't the easiest. Nothing really surprising on the quizzes or tests, bad grades are more attributed towards the students not giving effort. You have to work for your grade here.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: SPAN204
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Professor Vidal is so understanding and sympathetic of how brutal the spanish language program is at Duke. She tries her best to deal with a class that basically sets you up to fail. If you have to take SPAN204, Vidal is the way to go. She isn't soft though, she expects you to show up and show effort. Never going to blatantly fail you on orals.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: SPAN303
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

I really liked Vidal. She was very helpful outside of class and gave good feedback. Grading did seem arbitrary at times and expectations on some projects were unclear. This class is a lot of outside work. I found it comparable to Orgo in terms of work load, but it's not terribly hard and Vidal was very helpful.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: SPAN203
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

tough grader, not very helpful

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: 30301
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Her class on Latin American Dictatorships was very interesting but focused only on Argentina. She stressed cultural analysis, but no one knew what that meant or what she wanted exactly so it felt like we were going in circles. However, she's very nice and a fair grader. I would take another class of hers again.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: SPANISH303
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

I love Prof. Vidal! She's great, super understanding. She tries to make the class interesting, even with somewhat dry material. Some people think that she is abrasive, but if you chat with her a little one on one you'll see how nice she is. You should definitely give her a chance! :)

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: SPAN203
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Easy grader. Class has a lot of outside work, but all of the Spanish classes do

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: SPA303
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Very nice and helpful but the class is SO MUCH WORK. Definitely not an easy A at all and requires hours of work outside of class.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: SPAN203
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Very fair in her grading. Her class is interesting and fun. Not too much homework. Really liked it and recommend her as a teacher

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: SPAN203
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Super nice, tries to make the class as easy as possible and as interesting as possible. Very fair grader, rewards effort as well as correct answers. Great professor for Span203!

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: SPAN102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Prof Vidal is fascinating, upbeat, has a great sense of humor, and is extremely kind and helpful to students. I LOVE this class!

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: SPAN76
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

This class really improved my speaking and writing abilities. Vidal is a fair grader, but is sometimes unclear on homework.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: SPAN76
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Knowledgable teacher and willing to help students, but has a cold nature and likes to take favorites. If you come in and charm her from day one you should have no problem but be warned. Her impression of the student is as much as a determiniate in the grading process as is the effort and accomplishments on the other end.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: SPAN76
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Really nice and laid back. Definitely grades fairly. Sometimes talks too softly or too quickly but is willing to slow down if you ask her. Sometimes isn't clear about what the homework is. Will correct your grammar mistakes when you speak in class but doesn't make you feel bad about them.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: SPAN105
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

The class itself really improved my spanish, and the material was relatively interesting for a language course. However Vidal is unfriendly, cold, and not understanding of mistakes.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: SP105
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

105 is a cool class if you like latin american politics, culture and society. our class has had really intense conversations and debates. my speaking abilities have skyrocketed. it is easy to get a good grade if you participate a lot, have good pronunciation and arent scared to speak. the class is very structured and she folows the syllabus complet