
Spanish and Portuguese Open Tutoring Center














































BIENVENIDOS AL SITIO WEB DE SPOT
SPOT (Spanish and Portuguese Open Tutoring) is a free tutoring service offered by the Department of Spanish and Portuguese which strives to enhance students’ performance at the elementary and intermediate level through free tutoring and writing consultations for those enrolled in SPN 311 and above. Please feel free to contact us with any questions about our services at spot@miamioh.edu.
Also, to ensure that the services provided by SPOT are meeting the needs of our students we ask that you please take the time to complete the form on our feedback page once you attend a session.
Irvin Hall 246
Department of Spanish & Portuguese
400 East Spring St.
Oxford, OH 45056
spot@miamioh.edu
Phone: (513) 529-4500
Frequently Asked Questions
SPOT Mission Statement
- Provide all students with free tutoring services to enhance their exposure to the language and learning experience.
- Offer students guided practice and constructive corrective feedback in order to improve their language proficiency.
- Assist students in becoming more independent learners through discussing and advocating effective study strategies.
- Continually develop the services and quality of the SPOT program in order to provide the best experience possible for our students.
- Foster an open, positive, supportive learning environment in order to help students thrive academically.
- Provide mentoring to the writing interns employed by SPOT through professional development activities and support from SPOT coordination.
Do I need to sign up ahead of time for a tutoring session?
Where is SPOT located?
How should I prepare for my tutoring session?
Remember that tutoring is a partnership. As a student there are a few simple things you should do to get the most out of the time you spend with your tutor.
1) Bring the text for your course, any class notes and additional materials necessary.
2) Create a plan for how you want to use your tutoring session to make it as productive as possible.
3) Come in with specific questions/material you’d like to work on
4) Attempt the homework/assignment PRIOR to your session so you have the necessary foundation to discuss the material with your tutor.
What can I expect from my tutor?
A tutor is there to help you with questions related to your class level and can provide you with additional practice materials and explanation of complex concepts. Your tutor may go over your study habits with you and give you tips on how to improve. Your tutor however may NOT complete assignments for you or give you the correct answers.
What can I do to successfully learn a foreign language?
- Review the material presented in class on a regular basis and take advantage of the grammar tutorials provided on Supersite. You can also consult our materials page for additional resources and practice.
- Attend all class sessions and take notes. Take advantage of class time and actively participate in Spanish.
- Always complete all assigned homework on time and stay up to date with the course schedule.
- Attend your instructor’s office hours in order to go over your progress, discuss your grades and review material.
- When in doubt, ASK! Raise your hand in class if you’re having trouble following or don’t understand something.
- Attend events like Spanish Table on Wednesdays at 5:30 in Alexander Hall, the UniDiversity Latin American Film Series on Mondays in ART 100 from 6-8 and the Hispanic Heritage Month UniDiversity Festival in Uptown
Other departments should follow example of SPOT tutoring
By Editorial Editors
The Miami Student
Published: Thursday, January 27, 2011
Updated: Thursday, January 27, 2011 22:01
Miami University's Department of Spanish and Portuguese is debuting a new walk-in tutoring program, Spanish and Portuguese Opening Tutoring, otherwise known as SPOT. This program will allow students in introductory Spanish courses to gain personalized help from language professors on a walk-in basis.
The editorial board of The Miami Student is extremely excited about this new option. Especially for foreign languages, in which success is based on repetition and practice, the opportunity to receive efficient and specialized tutoring is very beneficial for students. As the Rinella Learning Center offers extensive, but limited resources, another available option will help students fully make use of tutoring services. In addition, because foreign language courses are requirements for many majors, offering open assistance for introductory levels is a wonderful idea.
Spanish courses are often heavy in workload and can be challenging. Providing an opportunity to have questions answered by several different professors could supply a fresh perspective for students who may require a diverse teaching style. The open office hours will also greatly accommodate busy schedules and further encourage students to seek guidance when needed.
Introducing a new plan to help students truly shows the Department of Spanish and Portuguese's commitment to teaching and student success. The fact that teachers listened to student needs and responded to them is admirable and promising. Students should certainly take advantage of the opportunity to seek help from professors, especially as it is designed specifically to make getting guidance from teachers easy and informal.
While this type of open tutoring may not be viable for other courses, the board continues to encourage professors and departments to look into ways to better student achievement. Miami has a record of excellent teaching performance, and it is necessary to work hard to retain this distinction. SPOT is definitely a step in the right direction. Muy bueno.
Current SPOT Schedule
Reserve Yourself a "SPOT"
To reserve a spot during the designated 311+ Writing Consultation slots, you must be logged in first to Miami’s Google Docs calendar and email system.
If you do not see the reservation calendar below, do the following:
1. Log in by clicking the red button link below.
2. Come back to this page and reload it to refresh the contents.
Links and Resources
SPN 101-311
- Spanish Language and Culture: Grammar Practice
- Span¡shD!ct.com: Vocabulary, Grammar Explanations and Practice Quizzes
- Quizlet.com: Vocabulary Flashcards, Games and Quizzes
- Señor Jordan’s YouTube Channel: Grammar Tutorials
- Span¡shD!ct.com: YouTube Channel: Grammar Tutorials and Vocabulary Lessons
- StudySpanish.com: Grammar Explanations and Practice
- University of Texas Language Proficiency Site: Practice grammar, vocabulary and listening (for beginners through advanced)
SPN 312 and above
- WordReference.com: Verb conjugator, dictionary, thesaurus
- Real Academia Española: Diccionario en español
- Spanish Pronunciation and Phonetics
- University of Oxford Language Centre: Links for language, culture, media, art, literature
- BrainPop en español: Learn about history, science, technology and more in Spanish!
- University of Texas Language Proficiency Site: Practice grammar, vocabulary and listening (for beginners through advanced)
Culture/Literature/Art/Film
- Museo del Prado
- Museo nacional de antropología de México
- Biographies of influential Latin American writers
- Cervantes: Bulletin of the Cervantes Society of America
- ILRC Online: Log in to access various Spanish materials used in classes
Media
- Spanish Newspaper El Pais
- Puerto Rican Newspaper: Elnuevodia
- Jornada Latina Newspaper: TSJ News
- Univisión Noticias
- El Tiempo