This course will probably be unlike any of your previous classes in Spanish, with the partial exception of SPAN 3350 if you have already taken it. Structurally, SPAN 3349 is very similar to 3350, and thematically the main difference is in the chronological coverage. Otherwise, this course, like 3350, offers a transatlantic perspective of Spanish and Spanish American history and culture in order to begin to explore the profound connections that link these two areas of the world.
SPAN 3349, however, presents unique challenges because of the nature of the subject matter and readings. You may be largely unfamiliar with much of the material covered in the historical summaries for each chapter. You will certainly find some of the readings to be in medieval and early modern versions of Spanish. As a consequence, you will have to budget your time carefully in order to satisfactorily complete the reading and writing assignments for this course. Do not expect to be able to skim through the readings shortly before class or the night before, and do not postpone writing your papers until the night before they are due.
The oldest texts in Spanish (i.e., medieval Spanish) are typically provided in dual-text editions, with the old Spanish on one page and a modern version on the other. Those texts that do not have a modernized version are heavily annotated to help you with the reading. On the bright side, medieval Spanish is considerably easier to read than, say, medieval English. In fact, you will probably find that sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Spanish is easier to understand in some ways than Shakespeare, even if you are a native speaker of English.
As you read these older texts, pay attention to archaic or obsolete vocabulary and attempt to familiarize yourself with it. Notice differences in spelling and see if you can discover any patterns. Watch out for perfectly modern-sounding expressions or phrases that nonetheless seem to have a different meaning.
For example, you will probably notice that many words that now begin with a silent h are typically written in medieval texts with an f, like fermoso or fambre. Likewise, you’ll quickly see that words now spelled with a j were spelled with an x, as in dixo (=dijo) or caxa (=caja). (In English, the spelling of Don Quixote typically retains the old Spanish x. Up until Cervantes' time more or less, the letter x indicated a sound in Spanish that was like English sh, which is why in French Don Quijote is Don Quichotte and in Italian, Don Chisciotte, in which the old sh sound is still preserved.) You will probably also note that v and b were used differently than they are nowadays, and spellings like fablava, dexava, iva, cavallo, etc. were the norm. (In fact, unlike in modern Spanish, in which v and b represent the same phoneme, in the Middle Ages, they represented two different sounds.) You will also encounter unfamiliar verb forms, like the future subjuctive: “Cuando viniere, se lo diremos,” which would be in modern Spanish, “cuando venga, se lo diremos”), etc., etc.
Last but not least, enjoy yourself as you explore these new linguistic territories!