Minor in Spanish

Undergraduate Minor in Spanish

As the world gets “smaller,” the need for people with language skills and cultural competency grows. Spanish is one of the world’s great languages of commerce and diplomacy, and has rich literary and cultural traditions. Students who graduate with a minor in Spanish have a diverse array of opportunities in many different fields, especially those with an international focus, including further specialized studies in literature, language, and culture, or careers in other fields such as education, public service, business, law, environmental policies, social services, medicine, or the arts. The undergraduate minor in Spanish consists of 15 credits of coursework beyond the prerequisite courses. Students can choose from 3 minor tracks, including: 1) Literature, Linguistics, and Culture; 2) Language, Culture, and Professional Contexts; and 3) Heritage Language and Latina/o Culture. To declare a minor in Spanish, students should meet with the Undergraduate Advisor to begin the process.

Study Abroad

All students minoring in Spanish are encouraged to study abroad in a Spanish-speaking environment. The Department of Spanish and Portuguese offers exciting opportunities for Spanish majors and minors to fulfill requirements abroad. See Education Abroad for more information.

Courses for Heritage Speakers

The Department of Spanish and Portuguese offers a minor track with courses specifically designed for heritage learners of Spanish, that is, students from homes where Spanish is spoken or students who have had strong exposure to Spanish in informal contexts. These courses accommodate students from a wide range of backgrounds, from those who are minimally functional (can comprehend Spanish but are not able to speak fluently, read or write) to those who are more proficient and/or literate in Spanish. The courses focus on the development of communicative competence in reading, writing, speaking and listening and viewing, as well as on understanding Hispanic cultures and issues of identity of heritage speakers of Spanish in the United States. Students will also develop an awareness and understanding of Hispanic cultures, including language variation, customs, geography, history, and current events. See here for more information on these courses.

ADVISOR CONTACT INFORMATION

Advisor:  Chris Lewis

Office: 2211 Jiménez

Phone: 301-405-6556

Email: spap-advise@umd.edu

For more information about advising, please visit the advising section of our website.

All students enrolling in an SLLC language course for the first time must take the online Foreign Language Placement Assessment (FLPA).

See TESTUDO for the current list of SPAN course offerings.

Undergraduate Minor Requirements (15 credits)

Prerequisites: Span 103, 203, 204, or equivalent.  (Note: Students who receive a grade of B+ and above in Spanish 203 can proceed directly to Spanish 207.)

Notes:

• Students must take language acquisition courses sequentially. Once credit has been received in a higher-level language acquisition or grammar course, a lower-level course may not be taken for credit.
• It is not permitted to take SPAN 301 and SPAN 303 simultaneously; this is possible only by permission of the Undergraduate Advisor.
• Span 311 or 316 can be substituted for another class by permission of the Spanish Undergraduate Advisor.
• Span 311 can be substituted for Span 307 for heritage learners with the permission of the instructor.
• Heritage learners who place out of SPAN 206 can follow the sequence SPAN 306 (Spanish for Heritage Speakers II) and SPAN 307 (Oral Communication Skills for Heritage Speakers of Spanish).
• Native speakers and all others with the ability to begin coursework at a higher level should speak with the Spanish Undergraduate Advisor for course substitutions.