El tutor me recomienda una asignatura optativa interesante.

Me is an indirect object pronoun meaning to me.

So:

• El tutor recomienda una asignatura = The tutor recommends a subject
• El tutor me recomienda una asignatura = The tutor recommends a subject to me

In Spanish, this indirect object pronoun is very commonly included, even where English might leave to me unstated.

Here, me is an indirect object pronoun.

It tells you who receives the recommendation. The tutor is doing the recommending, and I am the person the recommendation is for.

Other indirect object pronouns are:

• me = to me
• te = to you
• le = to him / to her / to you (formal)
• nos = to us
• os = to you all
• les = to them / to you all (formal)

Because me already shows to me.

Spanish often uses just the pronoun when the meaning is clear:

• El tutor me recomienda una asignatura optativa interesante.

You could add a mí for emphasis or contrast:

• El tutor me recomienda a mí una asignatura optativa interesante, no a ti.

So a mí is possible, but not necessary here.

Recomienda is the present simple form of recomendar.

It is:

• third person singular
• matching el tutor

Conjugation of recomendar in the present:

• yo recomiendo
• tú recomiendas
• él / ella / usted recomienda
• nosotros recomendamos
• vosotros recomendáis
• ellos / ellas / ustedes recomiendan

Notice the stem change:

• recomendar → recomiendo, recomiendas, recomienda...
• but recomendamos and recomendáis do not change

Because recomendar is a stem-changing verb in the present tense.

The e in the stem changes to ie in most present-tense forms:

• recomiendo
• recomiendas
• recomienda
• recomiendan

But not in nosotros and vosotros:

• recomendamos
• recomendáis

This is very common in Spanish. Other verbs that behave similarly include:

• pensar → pienso
• cerrar → cierro
• empezar → empiezo

El tutor is the subject of the sentence: the person performing the action.

Spanish often allows the subject to be omitted if it is obvious from the verb, but here it is included because the speaker wants to specify who is recommending the subject.

So:

• Me recomienda una asignatura optativa interesante. = He/She recommends an interesting elective subject to me
• El tutor me recomienda... makes it clear that the recommender is the tutor

Not always.

In Spain, tutor often means something like:

• a form teacher
• an academic tutor
• a student adviser
• someone responsible for guiding a student

It does not always mean a private teacher hired for extra lessons, which is a common meaning of tutor in English.

So the exact meaning depends on context.

Spanish often uses an article where English might be more flexible.

Here, una asignatura means a subject / a course — one unspecified subject.

• una = the feminine singular indefinite article
• asignatura is feminine, so it takes una

If you removed una, the sentence would sound incomplete in normal usage.

Because asignatura is a feminine noun in Spanish.

You can tell from the article and adjective agreement:

• una asignatura
• optativa interesante

Both adjectives stay in their feminine singular form to match asignatura.

A lot of nouns ending in -a are feminine, and asignatura follows that pattern.

Optativa means optional or elective.

In an education context, asignatura optativa is a standard way to say:

• elective subject
• optional course

In Spain, this is a very common school and university term.

In Spanish, adjectives usually come after the noun.

So:

• asignatura optativa
• literally: subject elective

That is the normal word order.

Some adjectives can go before the noun, but here optativa naturally goes after it because it is classifying the type of subject.

Again, Spanish adjectives often come after the noun.

Here you have:

• asignatura = noun
• optativa = adjective
• interesante = adjective

So the phrase is:

• una asignatura optativa interesante

This means the subject is both:

• elective
• interesting

Putting both adjectives after the noun is very natural here.

Yes, at least in terms of what sounds most natural.

Optativa is a more classifying adjective: it tells you what kind of subject it is.

Interesante is a more descriptive/opinion adjective: it gives an extra quality.

So:

• una asignatura optativa interesante sounds very natural

You may sometimes hear adjective order changed for emphasis or style, but this order is the most straightforward.

Because interesante is an adjective with the same form for both masculine and feminine singular.

Compare:

• un libro interesante
• una asignatura interesante

It only changes for number:

• un libro interesante
• unos libros interesantes
• una asignatura interesante
• unas asignaturas interesantes

So it agrees in number, but not with a different masculine/feminine singular ending.

That is the literal structure, but in natural English we usually say:

• The tutor recommends an interesting elective subject to me or
• The tutor recommends that I take an interesting elective subject or simply
• The tutor recommends an interesting elective subject

So yes, the Spanish structure includes the person receiving the recommendation, but the best English phrasing often uses to me or rewrites the sentence.

Because una asignatura optativa interesante is the direct object, not a person.

The so-called personal a is mainly used before specific people (and sometimes pets or personified beings), for example:

• Veo al profesor.

But here the tutor is recommending a subject, not a person, so there is no personal a.

Yes. Recomendar is quite flexible.

Some common patterns are:

• Recomendar algo a alguien
  = to recommend something to someone

• Recomendar a alguien
  = to recommend someone

• Recomendar que + subjunctive
  = to recommend that...

Examples:

• El tutor me recomienda una asignatura.
• Te recomiendo a esta profesora.
• El tutor recomienda que estudies más.

Your sentence uses the first pattern: recommend something to someone.

You could say it in some contexts, but it is not the most natural equivalent here.

• me recomienda naturally means recommends to me
• para mí usually adds the idea for me / suitable for me

So:

• El tutor me recomienda una asignatura... = the tutor recommends a subject to me
• El tutor recomienda una asignatura... para mí = the tutor recommends a subject for me / as suitable for me

They are close, but not identical in nuance.

It is perfectly standard Spanish in general, but asignatura optativa is especially common in educational contexts in Spain.

Also, because your learning target is Spanish from Spain, this sentence feels very natural in that variety.

A speaker from another Spanish-speaking country would still understand it, though they might sometimes prefer a different school-related term depending on the country.