The professor is good and overall the lessons are helpful but the class is very focused on the textbook and online assignments. The online assignments and textbook made the class more technical than conversational, and I feel like I didn’t get more comfortable speaking Spanish.

Professor Whitesell was a very engaging professor, who led very interesting and topical discussions and developed a very well rounded learning environment for us. I always looked forward to participating in class, and he made everyone feel very open and comfortable in speaking in Spanish. The classes are a pretty typical blend of group/partner discussion topics, textbook examples, and short writing assignments.
As for MySpanishLab, the online homework/textbook interface used, the assignments were helpful for understanding and building skills to work on more in class. The workload is fine but a bit oddly distributed- some days you’ll have three problems due and others more like 30. However, everything is up from the beginning so you can always get ahead if you need/want to. 10/10 would recommend this class and professor, I felt so confident in my communication skills by the end.

Professor Whitesell is the best professor ever for spanish. He is extremely helpful and willing to go out of his way to make sure you understand what is going on. I was never afraid to ask questions and it is nice that you can speak to him after class in english if you don't know what is going on. Lectures are mostly talking with your group practicing speaking guided by his slides, you don't have to volunteer to speak up if you don't want to and he doesn't call on anyone unless they volunteer. But, participation is graded so make sure you speak up sometimes to get your points. As for tests, there are two oral exams and two written exams. The oral exams are a little intimidating but he prepares you well and you do it in a group. The written exams are online and are a little more challenging but manageable. Homework is all online too and you can do it until you get a 100, so its not too hard just a little time consuming. Overall, this was a great class and Whitesell was the best professor to take it with. He is literally the nicest guy in the world and knows how to teach really well.