Who can use the writing center?
All UCSC students enrolled in an upper-division course are eligible to use the center.

Are drop-in hours available?
Yes, drop-in hours are Mondays from 12-3pm.

How do I prepare for my appointment?
Before your appointment, you should complete the following steps:

1. Make sure you have set the language as Spanish in your word processing program. The Spanish spell-checker will detect many (but not all!) spelling and accent problems.
2. Read your document out loud to yourself to check the flow. Are there sections that sound awkward? Highlight these areas to work on during your appointment. Also, by reading your document out loud, you will be able to detect very basic errors that you can fix on your own.
3. Check your document for overuse of high-frequency verbs such as “decir” when presenting the ideas of someone else. Try out other verbs such as “señalar”, “proponer”, “mantener”, “afirmar”, etc.
4. Check your document for colloquial language that is more appropriate to conversational Spanish than to written, academic text. Common examples are words like “nomás” and phrases like “se me hace”.
5. Review your document for false cognates that could cause confusion. Common false cognates (or false friends) are words like “soportar” (does not mean to support but rather to put up with).

Am I able to visit the writing center more than once?
Yes! You are able to visit the writing center as often as you would like.