[ITAL 0102]
Intensive Beginning Italian II

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Professor: Zupan P

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Material

Friendly (25%)
Average (50%)
Competitive (25%)

Class Atmosphere

Boring (25%)
Average (50%)
Fascinating (25%)

Prep Time Needed

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Grade Weighting

Harder (75%)
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Easier (25%)

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Would Recommend Class

Yes (25%)
No (75%)

Evaluation Comments for Zupan P

  1. I want to write this review so that no other student has to go through the hell that was this class. I am sure that Professoressa Zupan is a very nice person in general, but I would not wish her teaching on anyone. Zupan seems to believe that if a student does not understand an Italian phrase, the way to make him or her understand is to say the phrase louder. She does not try to coach you through unfamiliar words or to find different vocabulary for explanations. She will just repeat the same thing at increasingly louder levels and then become very frustrated at the student who cannot comprehend. Instead of trying to coach me and my fellow struggling classmates, after one class she took us aside to have a talk. She was very agitated with us and explained how she could not understand why we were not improving. Her exact reasoning was that the other sections of Italian 102 (taught by different professors) were averaging A's and high B's, and one or two people in our class were averaging high B's, so why were we failing? She did not stop to consider that perhaps her inattentiveness and anger at our confusion were seriously hampering our learning. She proceeded to put us down and explain that she couldn't believe that we weren't doing well. She made me feel inferior and unintelligent, which wasn't helpful for anyone. Through a fluke of the scheduling system I was forced to have her again in the spring semester, and though I managed to pass the class, I felt like I clawed my way through without learning anything from her along the way. I felt angry and stupid the entire time. Most of my class felt the same way toward her. Towards the end of the semester, there was a day where 8 put of the 14 people in my class all skipped a day because she had made us all feel so terrible the day before that we determined that we couldn't handle going back to her. If you are still forced to take this class with Professoressa Zupan, make sure you are on good terms with other professors and/or the TA (who is very friendly and helpful) because that's the only way you have hope of feeling good about yourself and your learning. In boca a lupo!
  2. Professor Zupan does not know how to properly design a lecture that actually teaches you the material you are tested on at the end of every week. She assumes that speaking rapidly in complex Italian is sufficient for learning the language. In previous Italian classes I had performed exceptionally well, but, with Zupan, my average took a drastic turn for the worse. Her trigger-happy grading hand has left many of her students demoralized and, often, devoid of any prior passion for studying a very beautiful language. In other words, if you enjoy failing and would love to have a headache brought on by intense frustration every morning, then take Professor Zupan's class. If not, do anything and everything to see that you are enrolled in another professor's section of 102, 101, or other.
  3. When I took Italian 102 (NOT in J-term) with Pat Zupan, I had the 8 am section with only 3 other regular students plus an adult student. This size is really too small for an Italian class, because we completely lacked the vitality and exuberance of Prof. Brancoli's J-term 101. If you can, avoid taking the 8 am section unless you know there'll be lots of people (and especially morning people!!) in it. Professoressa Zupan, however, is absolutely wonderful. She kept our class on track, although it always felt like the material was so easy that we must have been behind, and was extremely patient in helping students learn both in and out of class. Since my class was small, everyone had a fantastic opportunity to practice all the new grammar and concepts in class, meaning that less work outside of class was necessary. Prof.ssa Zupan's enthusiasm, unique sense of humor, and dramatic flair helped keep everyone awake early in the morning :) Also, I would highly recommend going to Italian dinners at her house and helping cook whenever possible-- they're always unforgettably good! P.S. I strongly disagree with both other people who have rated this course so far-- Maybe Prof.ssa Zupan has changed the class since they rated it (I had her in Spring 09), but she always sent us review guides with answers before tests that had exactly the same format and almost exactly the same material as the tests. Her grading was always fair (weekly exams are a pretty objective way to grade...) and she made sure to give us time to ask questions first. I've found so far that every professor in the Italian department who teaches beginning languages is outstanding; Pat is no exception to this rule! I feel like the person who wrote "If you enjoy failing and want to lose your appreciation of a beautiful language, take this class" must not have had the same Pat Zupan as I did!
  4. professor zupan knows the material but is not effective in explaining it to others. the class was absurdly difficult considering it is a beginner level, and tests are never on what the students expect.. overall i would not recommend taking this class with zupan

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