BA Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies / Course details

Our single honours BA Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies course will give you a strong grounding in writing, speaking and understanding the Spanish and Portuguese languages, as well as the opportunity to learn Catalan.

After Year 1, Portuguese language is not compulsory and you can choose to either concentrate more on the Spanish side of your degree, maintain the balance between the languages, or study more in Portuguese than Spanish by Year 4. You also have the option to study Catalan.

Language study offers much more than just language fluency. You'll explore diverse aspects of the culture, society, history, politics and literature of the countries in which Spanish and Portuguese are spoken, helping you to develop intercultural awareness and communication skills - both highly valued by employers.

You'll benefit from excellent teaching, student support and cutting-edge study facilities, as well as from the vibrancy and cultural diversity of Manchester itself, Western Europe's most multilingual city.

With placement options available at partner universities and in professional environments in Spanish- and/or Portuguese-speaking countries in Europe and Latin America, a compulsory third year abroad gives our undergraduate students unforgettable and invaluable personal and professional experience.

The course unit details listed below are those you may choose to study as part of this programme and are referred to as optional units. These are subject to change and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this programme. Although language units may show here as optional, they are a mandatory part of your modern languages degree and you will take the units relevant to your level of language in each year of study. It Is compulsory to study language at all levels of your modern languages degree.

Residence abroad

Your year of study or work abroad will offer the opportunity to gain first-hand experience of life in Spanish- (and Portuguese-) speaking countries., and further develop your language skills.

Collaborations and partnerships

The University has links with language and cultural institutions across the city, including:

• Instituto Cervantes - a centre for the promotion of Hispanic Cultures
• HOME - international and contemporary art, theatre and film
• Portuguese Consulate General - the official representation of Portugal in the north of the UK, which organises a number of cultural activities.

Societies

The University is home to over 30 international and language-related student societies offering a breadth of cultural activities and experiences including the Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies Student Society.

Learn from experts

All our language tutors are native speakers of Spanish, Portuguese or Catalan, giving you a richer learning experience and exposing you to accents and language usage from multiple regions of the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America

Tailor your degree

You can choose to change the balance away from Portuguese towards Spanish after Year 1, depending on your developing interests.

You'll learn through a mixture of formal lectures, seminars and tutorials, spending approximately 12 hours a week in formal study sessions.

For every hour of university study, you will be expected to complete a further 2-3 hours of independent study. You will also need to study during the holiday periods.

The individual study component could be spent reading, producing written work, revising for examinations or working in the University's Language Centre .

You will be assessed in various ways, including:

• written and oral examinations;
• presentations;
• coursework (which may include library research, linguistic fieldwork and data collection, or web-based research);
• in your final year, a dissertation based on a research topic of your choice.

Assessment methods vary from course unit to course unit - see individual course unit listings for more information.

There are outstanding resources for students, including world leading collections on Lusophone Africa within the library and access to thousands of films and texts on Latin America, Portugal and Spain.

The  University Language Centre  is home to language resources, including a new interpreting suite, purpose-built recording rooms and resources for over 70 languages.

The Centre also offers multilingual word processing, language learning software, off-air recording and AV duplication, multilingual terrestrial and satellite TV, and extensive support and advice for learners.

Learn more on the  Facilities  page.