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Rating for Manuel Ortuno
Professor Overview - Manuel Ortuno

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*A 5 star workload is an easy workload; a 3 star is average; whereas a 1 star workload is extremely hard.

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Comments:1401 - At first, Profe Ortuño was kind and often funny. But as the material advanced he became rude often and refused to answer questions unless they were in spanish. He grades COMPLETELY "subjectively" so that just means he can give you a grade below what you deserve and give you no explanation for it. I took spanish for 4 years and still only managed to pull a B in this class. very dissapointed.  - Grade In Class:B+

Date: 2017-11-15

Comments:2320 - Do not take a Spanish class from Dr. Ortuno. He makes Spanish class very unenjoyable because he is very condescending to his students...even if they are trying to practice pronunciation or grammar, he will often cut people off mid-sentence or criticize them for misunderstanding. He also has a tendency to favor male students to female ones; for example, in our class of eighteen, he learned all of the boys' names in the first month of school, yet was well into November without knowing several girls' names. He did not let girls read out loud most classes, explaining that the texts we read were written by men, and so boys had to read it to stay true to the nature of the text. This certainly negatively affected many students' willingness to participate and class experience in general. Dr. Ortuno's teaching style, and frankly, his condescension and rudeness, made it one of the worst classes I've taken.  - Grade In Class:A

Date: 2017-11-14

Comments:2310 - He is one of the worst professors I have ever had. If I didn't have any background in Spanish, I would've gotten a "C" or failed this course. He is rude and disrespectful to students. He doesn't ever make his expectations of class/assignments clear and then gets mad when you do them incorrectly. Anything that we were tested on, I had to teach myself all of the information. He takes no class time to discuss the course material and instead discusses random topics in class. I do not think that he should be teaching at all, and I do not recommend that anyone take him.  - Grade In Class:A

Date: 2017-04-20

Comments:1401 - Wow. What a horrible man. I had never taken a spanish class before his, and when we came in the first day, he spoke entirely in spanish. I had no idea what was going on. He speaks english only about 15% of the time and if you have a question you have to ask in spanish otherwise he will dismiss you and not answer the question. He has personally called me "estupida" and "idiota" multiple times, as well as my classmates, for not saying a sentence correctly or not understanding the question he was asking. We just received a test back and 11/21 people failed the test and he dismissed the blame when someone called him out on it. There have been several occasions where he has written a question incorrectly or chosen an incorrect answer choice as a correct answer choice and becomes defensive and abrasive when someone has a question about why it's correct. I think he has no business teaching an elementary spanish class because he has no patience for lower level learning that is required in an ELEMENTARY class.  - Grade In Class:C+

Date: 2016-11-07

Comments:SPA 1402 - Very rude, very unhelpful, and very condescending. If you have a question, he doesn't want to answer it. I've never had a professor care so little about helping their students actually learn. Before the first test, I overheard him whispering to the student next to me "Make sure to show up to class tomorrow, we're going to make corrections on the exam". I'm not sure if it brings him joy to give hard exams or what. It's one thing to give a hard exam that challenges the student's knowledge, but it's another entirely to give a test that you know your students won't be able to handle without getting points back from corrections. If you have the choice, DO NOT TAKE PROFESSOR ORTUÑO!!! I have learned so much more from other Spanish teachers.  - Grade In Class:B

Date: 2016-07-04

Comments:combined - Wow. I loved Spanish before I took his class. It\'s a shame that he is such a bad professor and is so rude and condescending. Instead of encouraging us, he puts us down and refuses to help.  - Grade In Class:D

Date: 2015-12-02

Comments:1&2 combined - Manuel Ortuño is one of the most inconsiderate and rude people I have ever met. He made me hate spanish and should not be teaching at Baylor. He could not give less of a shit about his students.  - Grade In Class:B

Date: 2015-11-06

Comments:SPA 3310 - Hardest Spanish class I've taken and hardest tests I have taken - he doesn't really care. Luckily it's a lower grading scale, but still I'll probably end up with a C-.  - Grade In Class:C

Date: 2015-11-03

Comments:3310 - RUN. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. If you are Spanish minor like me, wait until 3311 is offered which is every other semester with Fuertes. Up until this semester I had a 4.0 in my Spanish minor GPA (i'm a junior). The majority of the students who take the professor’s exams get C’s and below. I have been to his office hours many times he understands that most everyone is struggling, and admits that his course is difficult, but he insists that this is just the way it has to be.... But, I have heard Fuertes' Spanish American Civilization class is MUCH more enjoyable/easier/better in all aspects. Just don't take this class.  - Grade In Class:C

Date: 2015-10-28

Comments:3302 - Wonderful teacher! He loves Spanish so much, and makes you interested in it too! The points he made were so interesting and well-thought out. He takes time to research great material. Although there is a lot of reading in the class, you can get by.  - Grade In Class:B+

Date: 2015-05-29

Comments:2310 - The bad ratings are all accurate for this man. I only ended up with him because the professor was switched mid-summer and I thought it would be manageable. It was fine for about the first two weeks and then I realized just how awful the class was. He requires you to buy the workbook and complete about 10 pages per chapter, then (the grader) only ends up grading 10 or 20 questions because he doesn't have time to grade it all. I ended up with a C average for homework because he mostly only grades the one-word answer questions that are easy to miss. If you don't speak in complete sentences or understand what he's asking in Spanish you when he calls on you, he gets very agitated and it's embarrassing. He gets off topic very easily and because of this will not end up finishing teaching the material we were supposed to learn that class. Tests are difficult because if you have one part of a sentence wrong on an answer he counts the entire thing wrong. I studied for hours for tests over several days and would consistently make low B's. Only positive is that if everyone does poorly on a test (and they usually do) he will give back some points for corrections. Avoid him like the plague if at all possible. If you absolutely HAVE to take him, be prepared for the bad ratings to be true  - Grade In Class:B+

Date: 2015-01-03

Comments:2310 - This man is extremely arrogant albeit intelligent. He knows the language, but if you speak another dialect of the language (there are many), he is convinced that you are always wrong and he is the only one who actually knows the language. If you don't answer exactly the way he thinks you should, he will cut you off and embarrass you in front of the class. Do not take him unless you absolutely must. The class isn't impossible, the book is extremely useful. However, unless you already know the language, I would highly recommend taking someone else or waiting for another professor.  - Grade In Class:A

Date: 2014-11-19

Comments:1402 - So Professor Ortuno was actually mean at the beginning of the semester. He made fun of students that did not have accents, and keep in mind that he speaks in Spanish all the time. He does not explain grammar very well and does not devote a lot of time to it, although it is the thing that impacts your grade the most.... He gets off topic often and teaches us unnecessary vocab that we don't get tested on sometimes. I wouldn't take him unless he is the only open teacher, you can't wait a semester, and you are ready to put in a lot of work for not that great of a grade.  - Grade In Class:C

Date: 2014-04-14

Comments:2310 - He hardly teaches and gets easily upset when students mess up. His class is not impossible, but you will mostly teach yourself. If you have a good Spanish background then you will be fine, but if you are looking for a great teacher he is not your guy.  - Grade In Class:B

Date: 2013-04-17

Comments:3302 - Okay, take a deep breath before you read the other reviews. Dr. Ortuno is not impossible to do well in. If he is the only teacher who fits in your schedule, go ahead and take him. He is very doable. He only speaks in Spanish, but he speaks very slowly so that you can understand him. You will have to study for the class for sure, but the homework isn't too much (I like it because it can help boost your grade). The first test was a little tough, but each test was exactly the same format so, after the first one, study specific to that format, not necessarily to learn everything. If you have a decent Spanish background and are willing to work hard, an A is not out of reach. So, take his class seriously, but don't defeat yourself by thinking his class is impossible. Si se puede!  - Grade In Class:A

Date: 2013-01-01

Comments:SPA 1402 - I had Ortuno in Summer II. He's very, very clear in his explanation of Spanish grammar, however he speaks ONLY in Spanish during class with rare exception and I could tell that frustrated some people. He speaks slowly most of the time though and makes an effort to be understood. Also, any time outside of class (right before and after included) he speaks in English and would very clearly reiterate what he said in class. A lot of people frustrated during class didn't ever take advantage of this and I think it would have helped them a lot. There's almost no homework, about 3 workbook pages a night in the summer, so 1 a day in the regular semester, but the tests are difficult. There are 3 major tests, 3 "pruebas" (vocab quizzes), 2 composition assignments, an oral interview, and the final. Easy to do well in, hard to get an A.  - Grade In Class:A

Date: 2012-08-14

Comments:SPA 3305 - This is by far the worst professor I have encountered at Baylor. I wish I had looked at this website before I registered for classes. He was extremely disorganized and would often assign huge homework assignments two days before they were due. He would always come to class late and would leave early in a hurry so asking him questions was impossible. During his office hours he was extremely unhelpful and was not concerned at all whether anyone passed his class or not. The tests were ridiculous to say the least. He tests extensively on dates, authors, and even literary terms that may not have been covered in class. If you have a choice, do not take this professor!! I didn't miss a single class, I went to his office hours, and payed attention every second of class, but this class was by far the most ridiculous class with the most condescending professor. However, if you are stuck with him then make sure you know all the authors, poets, essayists, the dates they lived, nationalities, and any literary term that is even mentioned in the book. He also seems to grade his essays more heavily based on grammar than actual content. Even though this professor is terrible, I did end up learning quite a bit from this class just because it took up so much study time. Listen to the reviews on this website and do not take Ortuno if you have a choice!  - Grade In Class:B+

Date: 2012-07-12

Comments:3305 - This class was awful. He told us when we had homework (which many stayed up all night doing) two days before it was due and what would be on the tests two days before the test every time, despite us asking him about it several times. He is extremely unhelpful in his office hours, and his tests are ridiculous. Nobody gets A's on them and he doesn't curve. You are required to know details about every author and things like the rhythms of the poems (which he never discusses). He goes over every story and poem really quickly, spending only 30 seconds or so on some of them. He posted grades once on Blackboard and only had 3 grades posted before the final, so nobody had any idea what their grade was before the final. I would avoid his class at all cost.  - Grade In Class:B

Date: 2012-05-04

Comments:2310 - Horrible. I had a B the whole semeter and then his hell fire of a test caused me to drop down to not a C+, but a C. He is never helpful in class and barely goes over the material. He is condescending and laughs and sometimes gets impatient when you have trouble answering a question. He assigns you around 7 or 8 work book pages but only grades 17 questions so if you miss five questions you fail the homework assignment. Make sure you study the vocab and especially memorize your articles for the feminine/masculine words cause if you dont it will hurt you in the end. your grades are drawn from: 3 quizzes. 3 exams. homework for each chapter. 3 essays. oral interview. final. participation grade.  - Grade In Class:C

Date: 2011-12-14

Comments:SPA 3310 - Let me start off by saying that I love and enjoy Spanish. I have a lot of family from Latin America so Spanish is easy for me. I have taken a few classes to improve grammar and fluency and always was top of the class, 96-100 grade. That being said, I will barely pass this class. I have never hated a class so thoroughly as I have this one. The level of contempt he has for his students is astounding. He is very condescending and frequently cuts you off. He even imitated how Americans speak Spanish with their accent one time. I come from a Spanish background so I don't have the typical American or Texan accent, but seeing him make fun of others was extremely offensive. His teaching ability is horrendous. Lectures are utterly worthless to attend and you will learn NOTHING from them. Tests are completely from the book, which is not even a quality book and has misinformation. It isn't till the last 2-3 weeks of class that the lectures have anything that will be tested over. He did some research over Latin American and North American values and on the last 2 tests he gives you situations in which you have to use his research terms to analyze the situation. He has an enormous ego. He is also not helpful at all. He does not want to answer questions and often interprets questions as he would like them. I gave up asking questions in class. I tried to talk to him after class as well on various occasions but he brushes you off and tries to get rid of you as fast as he can. The first couple of tests have a geography section, a timeline (without accurate dates/marks), a multiple choice section, an identity section where you write a few sentences about paintings or Spanish art, and a section where you pick an essay topic. In the last 2 tests the essay will be a situation you must analyze. Oh that is one other thing. He is obsessed with Spanish art, liberals, and feminism. Picasso and other such painters pay attention to. If you can, RUN RUN RUN away from this professor. By far the worst I've ever had in my entire time at Baylor (4 years). This class nearly made me hate Spanish and anything to do with it. If you want to learn and enjoy learning, take someone like Corrales. Do NOT take Ortuno.  - Grade In Class:C

Date: 2011-12-12

Comments:2310 - Dr. Ortuno has a very thorough knowledge of Spanish, but doesn't seem too thrilled to be teaching it. He gets upset quickly with students who stutter or pause when speaking and rarely gives them time to finish their sentences if he knows its wrong. He is impatient, forgetful, and disrespectful with students-at least in my experience. For our class, he assigned 8 to 9 pages of workbook pages, only to actually grade one or two exercises because "he's too busy to grade them all." There are a couple small essays he has you write and an interview at the end of the semester. While he's not a terrible professor, he certainly isn't a helpful one.  - Grade In Class:B

Date: 2011-12-02

Comments:2310 - Senor Ortuno hates being a professor and you will hate being a student. He is not a mean person, but these other reviews are true. I have taken many years of Spanish so the class was not hard for me, but the people who needed clarification were at a loss. He does not know how to explain the logic behind anything. When asked a question about grammar he will say "because that's the way it is, anything else would be ridiculous," (direct quote). He speaks extremely slowly, which makes for a very boring class. Homework packets are assigned for each chapter. There was a quiz over every odd chapter and a test after the even chapters. He's really into vocab: articles, matching, synonyms, antonyms, groups of words, and words of similar roots. This class is definitely doable but you should find another teacher if possible.  - Grade In Class:A

Date: 2011-11-17

Comments:1412 - DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR!!!!!!! He is fun to listen to though, his mannerisms are also rather interesting. He's a good man with good intentions, but he just can't teach to save his life. Yells and gets upset alot, but his off-topic stories are always very interesting. Other than that AVOID ORTUNO AT ALL COSTS!!!!!!  - Grade In Class:C

Date: 2011-11-17

Comments:3310 - Do not take the ratings on this professor lightly. He is by far the worst I have had at Baylor. He is disrespectful to students, immediately corrects you without giving you the chance to do it yourself if you make a mistake while speaking, cuts you off when you are speaking, does not answer questions, his tests are ridiculous and he knows it but doesn't care, and every day I sat in class was a waste of time because nothing he lectures over was on the test. Seriously do NOT take this professor.  - Grade In Class:B

Date: 2011-11-07

Comments:1412 - Probably the worst professor I have ever had. DO NOT TAKE HIM. He is rude, cuts off students, insults students, and is completely incompetent. He gives an ungodly amount of homework (hour of online videos, two summaries of the videos, workbook pages (plural), and in-book assignments) due each class. He tests on irregulars and makes sure that you cannot find an answer to a question from another. Save yourself pain and suffering and DO NOT TAKE HIM.  - Grade In Class:B

Date: 2011-04-10

Comments:Accelerated Spanish 1412 - If you do not like Spanish, and aren't a Professional, then don't, i repeat DON'T take this class. HARD AS SIN. You have a crap load of homework allll the time. Work books pages to do every night. Reading to do every night. AND 30 minute spanish videos to watch, along with completeing a summary entirely in Spanish over what you just watched. He's a nice guy and everything, not a bad teacher or anything. He just moves very fast, the work is very time consuming, and it is overall pretty difficult and its basically a self taught class. Just dont take Spanish period. Take Swahili, seriously. It's the easiest language here. I wish someone would have shared this information with me when I was a freshman.  - Grade In Class:C+

Date: 2010-11-17

Comments:1402 - DO NOT EVEN CONTEMPLATE TAKING THIS MAN. He is rude, doesn't teach and does NOT make spanish even close to enjoyable. I am so sad I took him, he made me feel like complete crap and didn't even care about it. He is also extremely rude to his students and he doesn't care about you as a student in any way shape or form. DO NOT TAKE HIM, EVER!!!!!!!  - Grade In Class:D

Date: 2010-08-23

Comments:Span Civil/Conv&Comp - DO NOT TAKE HIM! He's just plain rude. He also doesn't listen to anything you say. He just wants to talk. My friend went into his office a year after she had his class to discuss a study abroad trip, and he assumed she was one of his students and automatically started shuffling his papers, saying "Oh I have your test right here." And she was like, "I'm not even in your class." He just really doesn't care about his students. His tests/quizzes are ridiculous too. He basically closes his eyes, points to a word in the text book and tries to make a question about that word. IMPOSSIBLE!  - Grade In Class:B+

Date: 2010-08-17

Comments:SPA 3305 - Do NOT take this professor...avoid at all costs. This is the worst professor I've ever taken at baylor. No one ever makes A's on the tests because they're so difficult. You have to memorize every single detail about the authors and their historical contexts in addition to being able to analyze their works. The final (which was over nearly 40 authors and their respective works) consisted of a multiple choice section, a true or false section, an oral section, a short answer section, and two essays. This man is ridiculous. Oh, and don't look forward to getting A's on the essays or homework assignments. You can slave over your papers but still get an 86 on every one like I did. I repeat, AVOID AT ALL COSTS. Nobody in my class was able to get an A in the class and only one person got a B. There's also a huge 6 page research paper to look forward to not doing well on also. Good luck if you decide to take this man.  - Grade In Class:C

Date: 2010-05-12

Comments:SPA 3305 - Never again will I take a class with this man. NEVER. He was not helpful at all. Whatever I learned is basically what I read from the book. He does not use class time efficiently at all. He talks for half the class or more about the syllabus, assignments we have coming up, etc. etc. He talks way too much about nothing. He doesn't give any useful advice for reviewing for exams. Seriously, the man doesn't even write the exam till like the day before he gives it. One of our tests was over about 45 poems and 22 poets (seriously!?! how did he expect us to remember what country each poet was from, what century, and a bunch of random details from the poems?) and we only had two exams during the semester. Yeah, I've yet to meet someone who says good things about him, at least not for his upper level classes (met one person who said something about his 23-something class). Anyway, I don't recommend him at all. Avoid him at all costs.  - Grade In Class:B+

Date: 2009-12-11

Comments:33 something - Spanish civilization. This class was very dull. The book is all in Spanish which is to be expected; you have assigned readings every day that he then discusses in class. Very big on participation- I asked and answered questions every day and I still didn't get full points for that. The lectures are always very dull and it is pretty useless to go to class except for the fact that he counts off if you're not there. The tests were a combo of multiple choice, geographical identification, short answer indentifications, a timeline, and one essay. He never tells you what the essay will be about beforehand so you better know everything pretty well. He will count down on your grammar and spelling if its wrong. In class, if you speak, he will only allow it to be in Spanish, which has really helped my speaking but can be frustrating at times when I don't know a specific word and can't just say it in English, but have to go around the word by defining what it means. However, he is very nice to all of his students and genuinely wants to help you get better. He will show you tons of pictures from his trips to Spain in order to give you a visual of what things look like and then will ask you to identify some of them on the test, so pay attention. Once you get to the part about Picasso, he will linger forever on the slides of Picasso's paintings. I wouldn't advise taking him if you're not willing to put up with a boring and difficult class. I guess I am, since i am taking him next semester.  - Grade In Class:A

Date: 2008-11-22

Comments:2311 - Ortuno is a good teacher. He talks in spanish the entire lecture, but goes pretty slow so it is easy to understand. There was a chapter due everyday and 2 very short papers throughout the semester. The tests were killer. The vocab is extremely hard and requires an insane amount of memorization. Try to do well before the final because the final is extremely hard.   - Grade In Class:B

Date: 2008-05-17

Comments:2310 - Got an "A" in his class, even though he was a total ***. I don't know why so many people take him. Not NEARLY as bad as his wife. He has anger issues, probably because his wife is always on his case. Came in one day and peeked her head through the door and beckoned him with one of her fingers. He left the class to talk to her. Very unprofessional.   - Grade In Class:A

Date: 2008-01-15

Comments:SPA 1412 - Overall, Ortuno is a great professor and the class was not very hard. However there was a lot of homework including Destinos (30 min episodes in Spanish that you have to answer questions on.) The tests were overall pretty basic and straightforward. Enjoyed the class except for all of the homework.   - Grade In Class:A

Date: 2008-01-14

Comments:1402 - It's true that this class is pretty much the same every day--we read a little from the textbook, listen to him explain the grammar for the day, and answer workbook problems out loud. If you really love exciting, fast-paced classes, this probably isn't for you. Personally, however, the predictability and organization of the class really helped me understand the concepts better. It was a welcome change from Ms. Detcheva's unorganized, fast-paced 1401 class I had taken the previous semester. Ortuno makes sure that you understand the format of the tests and quizzes ahead of time, which is a big help with preparing for them. He only speaks in Spanish during class, but he goes slow enough that he's easy to understand. If you love classes where you can look at the syllabus to know exactly what you will do each day, then I recommend Ortuno.   - Grade In Class:B

Date: 2007-07-30

Comments:3310 - Classes generally bored the whole class to tears. When it came time to study for tests, the maps were a big deal. That screwed a lot of people over, but detail is important on those. Test questions generally come straight from lecture or readings, but if you're as uninterested in the subject matter as I was, studying became a hassle. Memorization seemed to work best. He makes up words that don't exist in the spanish language. Also, paper grades seemed somewhat arbitrary. Don't quite know what he was looking for. If you must, take him, but I'm avoiding him for sure.  - Grade In Class:C+

Date: 2007-05-07

Comments:1412 - Senor Ortuno is good professor, but he does spend too much time interacting with the students. He loves it when students ask him about his life, and he's almost always willing to take class time to talk about his family. He doesn't really teach, so most of the learning is self-taught. His tests aren't too difficult, but you should spend some time looking over the chapters (I didn't even study for the tests and I still pulled off a B+).  - Grade In Class:B+

Date: 2007-02-13

Comments:3310 - I HATED this class with a passion.. the WORST SPANISH class in baylor EVER. He does NOT teach one bit.. he would mostly come to class and show us his vacation pictures on a projector that would take him half the period to turn on. DONT MESS up on your first test.. he pretty much sees how you do on your first test-- and from there on out.. your grade is already predertermined. I wanted to cry everyday when I was in class :(  - Grade In Class:B

Date: 2007-01-05

Comments:1412 - Dr. Ortuno is a nice guy, but he doesn't really teach in class. He spends most of the class period interacting with the students. His tests aren't easy, but if you study for them, they can be. He offers extra credit, and all the daily assignments and weekly homework really helps to booost your grade. He loves to be asked questions about himself.  - Grade In Class:A

Date: 2006-10-10

Comments:2311 - Sr. Ortuno is a great prof. He does conduct the entire class in Spanish, but he is very easy to understand. The hardest part of the orals was recording on the computer correctly. He required an oral presentation: I advise you memorize your part!Very easy HW and he told you exactly what material would be on tests. I learned a lot in his class.   - Grade In Class:C+

Date: 2004-02-28

Comments:Spanish for Teachers - This guy doesn't mess around. You learn a lot, but it moves at a fast pace, and not a lot of time to ask questions. 1 chapter out of the workbook a week for homework.. 4 tests that weren't that bad if you studied.. until he adds the oral section. Not a very friendly teacher, I had to work hard for my grade. Did not enjoy the class at all.  - Grade In Class:B+

Date: 2004-01-22

Comments:spanish for teachers - He is great if your one of those people that sits in the 1st row and knows their stuff pretty well, but you have to know your stuff to pass. Class is average I guess, but I hate spanish.He assigns about 1 ch of workbook stuff a week, which isn't bad. Most of the time there is only 1 SFT offered, but at least you know what's coming to you!  - Grade In Class:C

Date: 2003-12-27
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