Spanish

Welcome to new students in Spanish and Latin American Studies! 

Hello and welcome. We hope you have had a good summer and, for those of you who have just completed your A Levels, congratulations on your results. Our staff look forward to meeting you in September and to working with you over the next four years. More information can be found at www.sheffield.ac.uk/slc/modules/spanish-and-latin-american-studies but all the material can also be found below. 

Below is an animated promotional video giving a sense of what Spanish and Latin American Studies at the University of Sheffield is all about.  

  

Why Spanish?

Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world in terms of native speakers and is an important language of business, trade and diplomacy. Within global markets Spanish is rated as the third most important language for business (behind English and Mandarin) due to its number of speakers and the fact that the United States of America is the second largest Spanish-speaking country in the world. Moreover learning Spanish opens the door to rich and diverse cultures across Spain and Latin America. 

Our courses provide you with teaching and materials to become fluent Spanish speakers and offer a rich array of options to explore the cultures, history, politics, literatures, music and languages of Spain and Latin America. 

We offer the following language courses:

Also, we offer a choice of core content modules on Spanish and Latin American culture and society. You can do one or both modules (we strongly recommend that you take both if you are thinking of continuing with Spanish). The core modules are:

MDL105 An Introduction to the Social and Political History of Iberia & Latin America

MDL106 Understanding Spanish and Latin American Culture,


Handbook for Spanish and Latin American Studies

Spanish Handbook.pdf

In this handbook (to be added shortly) you will find all the information about our courses and what modules are CORE and optional depending on what other subjects you wish to study along with Spanish.  

The handbook will also include information and basic reading lists for the Spanish and Latin American Studies language and content modules. 

Below are also the information for our CORE modules.

Choose your core content module 

Students who want to create a Spanish pathway need to take a core (compulsory) Culture module in addition to the language classes (Beginner or Post A Level). You can choose either of these modules (or take both [recommended]).

MDL105 An Introduction to the Social and Political History of Iberia & Latin America , which examines the historical trajectory of Spain and Portugal, their emergence as states in the Iberian Peninsula, their imperial expansion overseas into Africa, Latin America and beyond, the eventual independence of the colonies and their development and consolidation into the various modern-day states we know today. The module will explore the social, political, linguistic and cultural characteristics of these states and its peoples and highlight the importance of understanding their complex history in the formation of their identities, their languages and their cultural and political values. 

MDL106 Understanding Spanish and Latin American Culture, which examines the literature and film of modern Spain and modern Spanish-speaking Latin America. In each semester, three cultural products from one of these two areas are studied: poetry, film and narrative fiction. We will build up a picture of the cultural history of Spain and Latin America, as well as looking at key themes to emerge from their literary and filmic outputs. By focusing on three different genres in each semester, you will be able to explore different types of cultural product and to build up analytical skills gradually by moving from shorter or visual pieces to a larger body of writing. The knowledge and skills acquired here will underpin the optional modules at level 2 and beyond.