Reviews of professor Erik Alder

Rating: 3.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
This was a tough class. Basically all the work is reading and papers, which I am not a fan of, but thankfully Professor Alder grades fairly. He's a really good guy, and always willing to help you. He's a little awkward at first, but also really enthusiastic about literature and it rubs off. You'll need a good attitude and work ethic.

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
After taking three Spanish classes at BYU, this is my least favorite. Professor Alder is disorganized and at times seems clueless about what he teaches. I dont have anything great to say about this professor and class.

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
For the class, a mini 300 word essay was due each week. Each day a big reading from the textbook was assigned along with some additional readings. You could get by without doing them (and even pass the tests just fine because of the way he does test reviews) but because he does group discussions you look pretty stupid not having done the readings.

Rating: 3.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
He gave little expectations or criteria about assignments, but graded super specifically. He assigns A LOT of reading so just look up summaries if you dont want to read. Just take super good notes and pay attention to what he emphasizes. His tests are pure memorization. He is still willing to work with you and help you out and is a good guy.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 1.0/5
Professer Alder was a fantastic professor to take SPAN 321 from. If you're taking the class, you likely already know spanish, and are just trying to get the challenge exam credits. He knows that. He doesn't make the class hard for no reason, and instead just tries to have a good time with everyone while honing your skills for the challenge exam.

Rating: 3.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Professor Alder is a super nice guy. This class was mostly discussion based, and we learned a lot about Spain. There was sometimes a lot of reading, and some of the papers were challenging for me. He assigned us to read academic articles about a Spanish topic, and boy do I struggle with reading academic articles in Spanish.