Leen Kharouf, Class of 2026
"Hi, I’m Leen, a rising Junior here at NYUAD. Before taking Elementary Spanish 2 in my sophomore spring, I had studied Spanish for a few years in high school and gathered a lot of random vocabulary — I could write a paragraph about the global issues of poverty and homelessness but I could barely hold a basic conversation. Taking Spanish at uni was very different; the interactive nature of the class meant we couldn’t hide in the corner and were always engaging in convos and answering questions. I had weekly meetings with my tutor, Andrés (he’s the best), where I got to practice even more and ironed out the fuzzy concepts. Andrés has been extremely patient, to say the least. Although I postponed one of my engineering requirements to take this class, it is easily one of the best choices I made since coming to uni. Writing this from Madrid, I just wanna say that Spanish people speak fast, really fast. But it is so awesome to be able to communicate and put into use everything I’ve learned — who would have thought I’d actually need to know how to negotiate at a shop or buy garlic in a supermarket... I genuinely loved every part of class, it’s been really great."