FAIRHOPE – For many Baldwin County residents, the idea of speaking Spanish is … well … foreign to them. Those who studied the language in high school might have forgotten much of what they learned so many years ago, while others managed to avoid their guidance counselor long enough to slip by with little more than a basic knowledge of English.

Now comes good news for anyone wanting to more easily communicate with our Hispanic neighbors.

The University of South Alabama Baldwin County in Fairhope is offering non-credit Spanish classes for all levels. Admission to the four-year school is not required.

The courses will be held at the USABC classroom complex at the corner of St. James Avenue and Summit Street near downtown Fairhope. Each runs eight weeks, and the cost per class is $85. Space is limited to no more than 20 students each. The deadline to register is Sept. 6.

Instructor Maria Papp said the language lessons are ideal for employers of Spanish-speaking workers, as well as those interested in a smoother interaction with immigrants who have begun new lives in the United States.

“They will also be learning more about the culture and idiosyncrasies,” Papp said. By taking one of the courses, she added, students will be able to “help their children learn Spanish because it’s going to be the second language in this country.”

Courses accommodate beginners, as well as those with more than a casual ability to speak the language. A course for law enforcement officers is also on the curriculum.

Papp said, “Sometimes people go on a trip and they want to refresh what they learned in their school years. In the fall, snowbirds take the courses. In the last 10 years, a group formed a Spanish club. They meet once a week because they want to accomplish more.”

Papp said the basic course will cover the first six or seven chapters of the required textbook, which is available at Page and Palette in Fairhope and Barnes and Noble in Spanish Fort.

Basics of the language will be covered, she said. Students will learn proper pronunciation the first night, followed by the use of grammar as the weeks pass.

“We’ll be entering into more elaborate conversation,” Papp said. “They will learn the past tense and future tense use of the verbs.”

Intermediate classes involve study of the next six chapters, including more advanced conversation, she noted. Differences between Spanish and English will be discussed, such as “why adjectives follow instead of preceding nouns.”

The class size restriction enables Papp to offer individualized instruction. Although each course is structured, she is not tied down to a certain pace, and works around student needs.

“With the active lives we all lead, it’s hard to tell someone to prepare homework,” she said.

No one should be nervous simply because they haven’t set foot in a classroom in years. Papp, who said she has taught Spanish to people from ages 2 _ to 91, said, “You can learn at any age if you have an interest. Our brain, especially over age 60, needs to stay active. This keeps your brain very active.”

She said learning conversational Spanish will be easy, “particularly because you have the motivation; you have an interest. We take English because we want to be a writer. We take drawing because we want to be an artist.”

Papp has been an interpreter/translator on both sides of Mobile Bay since 1968. She has extensive experience in bilingual education, from early childhood to adult level, and was on the Bayside Academy faculty for 12 years.

Since 1982 she has worked as a freelance interpreter for the United States District Court, Southern District of Alabama. Her bilingual knowledge covers everything from simple interrogation to more elaborate legal situations, including civil and criminal law, social services, labor relations and depositions.

“I have received good comments in all my years of teaching Spanish,” Papp said. “I give confidence to the students. I try to make them very comfortable.”

USA Courses offered:

•F7BC 230 Beginning Conversational Spanish

Monday, Sept. 10–Oct. 29

10 a.m.–noon or 6–8 p.m.

Book: Spanish Made Simple by Eugene Jackson and Antonio Rubio

•F7BC 235 Intermediate Conversational Spanish

Wednesday, Sept. 12–Oct. 31

10 a.m.–noon

Book: Spanish Made Simple by Eugene Jackson and Antonio Rubio

•F7BC 375 Intermediate II Conversational Spanish

Wednesday, Sept. 12–Oct. 31

6–8 p.m.

Book: Spanish Made Simple by Eugene Jackson and Antonio Rubio

•F7BC 400 Spanish for Law Enforcement Officers

Thursdays, Sept. 13–Nov. 1

10 a.m.–noon or 6–8 p.m.

Book: Spanish for Law Enforcement by Jarvis Lebredo

To register for a Spanish course, or to learn more about USA’s non-credit programs, call 928-8133 or e-mail rwandrews@usouthal.edu.