This class was extremely difficult, and I dreaded going to each class; however, I survived, and you definitely will too if I can do it, trust me! Professor Street could be kind and helpful during office hours, but how he sometimes behaved in the classroom is a different story. While he wasn’t rude every day, there were enough instances where his tone was condescending, impatient, and discouraging that it negatively affected the learning environment for both myself and many others. He knew many of us had not taken Spanish in years, yet sometimes expected everyone to grasp new material very quickly simply because we were “UVA students,” even though the course covered both SPAN 1 and 2 in a single semester. The workload was especially heavy and overwhelming at the beginning of the semester, though it did ease somewhat as the semester progressed. He also made comments such as “You’re a UVA student, use your brain,” expressed that he was “shocked” by how slowly students were working, and called students out in front of the class for moving too slowly. He made remarks like telling a student they should already know how to pronounce a word because it was “easy,” told a group they should have gotten an answer right because they “get good grades,” and even told a struggling student to “stop pausing and looking at him for reassurance after every syllable.” These instances completely contradicted his claim at the beginning of the semester that the class was meant to be a safe and inclusive environment where “mistakes were encouraged and welcomed,” which explains why many students were hesitant to participate as the semester progressed. Overall, this was a hard course, and I would strongly advise testing out of it if possible. If you cannot, you will make it through the course, but do not let his comments or attitude discourage you. You’ve got this, and best of luck!

Loved this class! Professor Street is one of those professors that actually cares about your learning and will make sure that you do. It is definitely challenging, but the class consists of nightly homework, projects, and ~3 exams. Expect cold calling. Overall, a great class that I really enjoyed, learned Spanish, and got to know my classmates in. Wouldn't want to take this class with any other professor.

#tCFfall25

Professor Street is INCREDIBLE! He is initially pretty intimidating, and honestly the first few weeks were really stressful. The workload definitely slows down (even after just the first 2 weeks), and you get to know your class which makes participation easier. Overall, the class is a lot of work, but if you just do it you will come out knowing the language so much better. He is really understanding, helpful in office hours, and responds to emails really quickly. You're always prepared for the exams (he has practice ones on canvas) and if you just follow the criteria for the projects you can get a 100. He's a super fair grader. He doesn't surprise you with anything, and an A is very doable if you participate and complete the work on time. Overall, Professor Street has made me like Spanish a lot more, and I'm bummed I can't take him for 2000 level courses.

For general notes on the class, as you'll see in this review and probably most others, SPAN 1060 has a lot of busy work, but it really helps with your learning. However, as the semester goes on the workload gets a lot easier. By the end of the semester, I was able to sit down for a couple of hours and knock my work out for the week. As for Prof. Street, he's one of my favorite professor's I've had at UVA so far. He's very helpful if you go to office hours, and will print out worksheets and work through them with you, which really helped my understanding. He also really likes e-Portfolios, so put in some extra effort in that area and you should be golden! However, he does assign seats in random groups and will cold-call students, which I wasn't the biggest fan of. However, looking back, it really does help your learning in the long run. The active-learning environment he creates is unmatched. TLDR: Lots of work like any Spanish class, but a great professor who cares about his student's learning!

I was terrified of taking a language in college and having to fulfill my requirement, but this class really helps you gain confidence in your Spanish speaking. I remembered little to nothing from my high school, but the way this class is structured really helps you learn and grow (fast). Street obviously cares about his students and doesn't push you very hard about deadlines. He's willing to work with you as much as possible to get you to a level of understanding in this class. Overall, a great class. It really made me love Spanish.

Professor Street is the professor you want for this class. He is such a good instructor and really cares about helping his students out. As long as you go to class, participate, and do the assignments you'll get a great grade. Definitely one of my favorite professors I have had at UVA so far.

Like any other language class, this was a huge time-suck. There was online homework due every day, and we had to do LinguaMeetings every other week, which was one of the worst things I've ever experienced. All in all, Matthew Street was really invested in the class and obviously loved teaching the language. A few people in my class came down with Covid, and they said he was super nice and accommodating as they recovered. If you have to take this class to satisfy the requirement, take it with Street.

I love Professor Street! He loves the language and wants everyone in class to succeed. The tests are just like the classwork assignment which are just like the homework assignments. Professor Street uses the active learning space technique which brings language learning to another level. The homework assignments can sometimes be time consuming, but they are never overwhelming. I 100% recommend Street as your professor, I have never learned a language so fast and so well.

If you need to take Spanish 1060 I highly recommend taking it with Professor Street! He is very easy to understand and genuinely cares about the subject and his students. Although I only had class 3 times a week, there was a good amount of work to be done every day. There are usually 3-5 assignments due online weekly that can be somewhat time-consuming. I highly recommend.

Like other language classes attendance is mandatory so I recommend not taking a 9 am, considering you get a point off of your final grade if you miss class more than three times. Professor street definitely was excited about the class, but seemed to not know Spanish as well as a professor might, but definitely enough to teach the class. Reading the textbook is a must for understanding grammar, and don't buy the optional text or a Spanish dictionary because its useless for this course. Don't stress about the connect- getting 90% on all of them will suffice, the E-portfolio is whats important. Do all the activities on time and turn it in correctly- he wont hesitate to give you a zero for something you actually did. Professor street had the energy of a crack addict the while class and will call on you at any point so you should always be paying attention.