Spanish 460: Internship in Hispanic Lang & Culture

Internship in Hispanic Language and Culture
Real Estate
Español 460, The Citadel, Otoño 2007
Viernes: 0900-0950

Profesor Del Mastro	e-mail: delmastrom@citadel.edu
Oficina y clase: 232-A Capers	Teléfono: 3-5253
Horas de oficina: lunes a jueves, 1500-1630 o una cita coordinada con el profesor.*

*Si un estudiante no puede reunirse con el profesor durante las horas de oficina de éste, hay dos maneras de comunicarse con el profesor: 1) por correo electrónico y 2) por teléfono a su oficina. ¡No llamarle a su casa!

Texts: Kaplan, Steven M. Webster's New World English-Spanish / Spanish-English Business Dictionary; ISBN: 978-0-471-71994-6. Wiley, January 2006.

Description and objectives:
To provide students with practical experience using the Spanish language while students work with real estate internship agents; exposure to aspects of Hispanic culture will also be intended. Students will devote 6-8 weekly hours (2-3 afternoons each week) of service with the cooperating realtors. Students will be assigned an agent and will learn about the real estate market and related transactions and procedures while also receiving practical experience with Spanish-speaking realtors and prospective home buyers. Students will meet as a group once per week (Fridays, 0900-0950) with Dr. Del Mastro, Internship Director, to discuss their experiences. Each Friday during class, students will also hand in their journals that will recount in Spanish their experiences working as interns. Internships must take place from 1300-1700, Mondays through Thursdays. Interns must arrange their schedules to ensure the necessary time is available each week (e.g., an intern can not schedule a 1300 class on internship afternoons), and they must arrange their own transportation to the agency location.

Course policies:
(1)Attendance and tardiness
Attending both the weekly class on campus and fulfilling the weekly required hours of the internship at Keller Williams are mandatory. The student's agent will report internship attendance and tardiness along with their weekly reports to Dr. Del Mastro at the conclusion of each week. Tardiness for class and/or internship appointments will negatively impact the intern's final grade. If the intern is faced with an urgent situation that precludes fulfilling their internship obligations for a particularly day, they must contact well in advance both Dr. Del Mastro and the intern agent in question. Failure to do so will have a negative impact on the intern's final grade. A student leaving campus as authorized by the internship leave must ONLY be engaging in internship-related activities while away. If the student is unable to participate in the internship on the scheduled time and day, he/she must remain on campus during the internship-leave time.

(2) Internship performance
The internship agent will report weekly to Dr. Del Mastro on the intern's overall performance, activities, percent of time Spanish was used and in what capacities (speaking, writing, translating projects, conversing with prospective clients), punctuality, and cooperativeness, among other pertinent performance factors. Students engaged in non-internship related activities during internship leave time will be held strictly accountable by the college's honor code and graded accordingly in this course.

(3) Journal
The intern will maintain a hand-written journal (black and white marble covered lab notebooks preferred) in Spanish that records in detail the student's internship activities and their reactions to the same. The journal will be submitted to Dr. Del Mastro weekly and for evaluation during Friday's class meeting and will be retrieved by the student from Dr. Del Mastro's office on Monday morning.

(4) Internship report
Each intern will submit a final report at the end of the semester. The report must be 8 pages minimum (including endnotes and bibliography), typed, double spaced with 1" margins all around, 12-point "Times Roman" font and in accordance with MLA style. Late reports will not be accepted and should be handed to Dr. Del Mastro by NOON on the due-date. A grade of 0 will be assigned to late or unsubmitted reports. Dr. Del Mastro will provide further details about this report and its topic as the semester progresses.

(5) Exit interview
Dr. Del Mastro will conduct a graded exit interview in Spanish with each intern to assess the knowledge gained through the internship experience.

Grade Distribution

Attendance and tardiness	20%
Internship performance	30%
Journal	20%
Internship report	15%
Exit interview	15%

Grade Distribution
A: 90-100
B: 80-89
C: 70-79
D: 60-69
F: 0-59

Please remember that as an intern you are an ambassador for The Citadel to the internship agent and real estate company in question. Your appropriate behavior and responsible performance, therefore, are critical for your success in this class and for the reputation of the college.

Si un estudiante se encuentra en circunstancias especiales y/o urgentes que evitan su asistencia a clase (especialmente un día de una prueba o presentación del mismo estudiante) o la entrega de un informe escrito, es la responsabilidad del mismo de avisar al profesor 24 horas antes o después del día en cuestión con una explicación. El profesor se reserva el derecho de evaluar las circunstancias y las explicaciones del estudiante para determinar si el estudiante merece consideración especial y una exención de la política del curso.