- UCAS course code
- RRK5
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
BA Spanish and Portuguese
Gain specialist language and culture skills with a focus on Spain, Portugal and Latin America.
- Typical A-level offer: ABB including specific subjects
- Typical contextual A-level offer: BBC including specific subjects
- Refugee/care-experienced offer: BBC including specific subjects
- Typical International Baccalaureate offer: 34 points overall with 6,5,5 at HL including specific subjects
Course description
Our BA Spanish and Portuguese joint honours degree you will give you near-native fluency in speaking and understanding Spanish and Portuguese, as well as an excellent understanding of the culture, history, politics and literature of the countries where these two languages are spoken, on both sides of the Atlantic.
This helps you to develop intercultural awareness and communication skills - both highly valued by employers.
You will 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 Portuguese-speaking countries, 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.
Special features
Residence abroad
You can study and/or work for up to a year in a country or countries relevant to your chosen language(s) to improve your communicative language skills in a native-speaker environment.
Collaborations and partnerships
The University has links with language and cultural institutions across the city, including:
- Instituto Cervantes - a centre for Spanish culture;
- HOME - international and contemporary art, theatre and film;
- Manchester China Institute - promoting mutual understanding in UK-China relations through research, teaching, and activities;
- Alliance Française - home of French language and culture.
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 Student Society.
Teaching and learning
You will 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 .
Coursework and assessment
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.
Course content for year 1
You will study 60 credits from each discipline.
Spanish
- You are trained in the modern spoken and written Spanish language through compulsory core course units. You will also be provided with an introduction to the cultural and historical development of the Hispanic world and develop the skills required to be successful in your further study of Spain and Latin America.
Portuguese
- You will take a compulsory Portuguese language component - either for beginners, or for those with an A-level (or equivalent).
- Students also explore the Portuguese-speaking cultures and colonial history of Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, Angola and Goa.
You will take only the language units relevant to your level of language in each year of study.
Course units for year 1
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
---|---|---|---|
Cultures of the Hispanic World | SPLA10410 | 20 | Mandatory |
Themes in Spanish and Latin American Studies | SPLA10420 | 20 | Mandatory |
Introduction to the Cultures of the Lusophone World | SPLA10130 | 20 | Optional |
Cultures of the Hispanic World | SPLA10410 | 20 | Optional |
Study Project (Portuguese) | SPLA10600 | 20 | Optional |
Spanish Language 1 | SPLA51011 | 20 | Optional |
Spanish Language 2 | SPLA51022 | 20 | Optional |
Spanish Language 3 | SPLA51030 | 20 | Optional |
Portuguese Language 1 | SPLA52010 | 20 | Optional |
Portuguese Language 2 | SPLA52020 | 20 | Optional |
Displaying 10 of 11 course units for year 1 | |||
Display all course units for year 1 |
Course content for year 2
Follow compulsory Spanish and Portuguese language course units, refining your skills in written and spoken Spanish and building on your Portuguese writing and speaking skills.
You take options in the cultures and histories of the Spanish-and Portuguese-speaking worlds chosen from a list which includes options such as the study of Latin American History, writing women in the Spanish Golden Age, the Cold War in Latin America, visual cultures in Modern Spain, Brazilian literature, and the impact of empire and decolonisation in Portuguese and Luso-African cultures.
Course units for year 2
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
---|---|---|---|
Visual Culture in Modern Spain: Film, Painting and Photography | SPLA20062 | 20 | Optional |
Empire and its Aftermath: The Making of Modern Portugal in Literature, Art and Film | SPLA20141 | 20 | Optional |
Writing Women in the Spanish Golden Age | SPLA20161 | 20 | Optional |
Spanish Linguistics | SPLA20772 | 20 | Optional |
Brazilian Literature | SPLA20832 | 20 | Optional |
Culture and Cold War in Latin America | SPLA20871 | 20 | Optional |
Modern Latin American Literature | SPLA20882 | 20 | Optional |
Spanish Language 4 | SPLA51040 | 20 | Optional |
Spanish Language 5 | SPLA51050 | 20 | Optional |
Portuguese Language 3 | SPLA52030 | 20 | Optional |
Displaying 10 of 13 course units for year 2 | |||
Display all course units for year 2 |
Course content for year 3
Your third year of study is spent abroad under approved conditions.
Course content for year 4
You may choose to divide your studies equally between both languages, or study up to two-thirds of your credits from either language.
You will continue your language studies of the Spanish and Portuguese you were exposed to in Years 1 and 2 and during your period abroad, perfecting your writing and oral skills.
Choose from a wide range of units in film, literature, music, history and linguistics of the Spanish-speaking and Portuguese-speaking worlds (including the study of the Amazon through film and literature, and visual culture from the early modern Hispanic world).
Opt to write a dissertation on an academic subject of your choosing, related to either the Spanish or the Portuguese side of your studies and supervised by a member of staff who is an expert in the field.
Course units for year 4
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
---|---|---|---|
Spanish Language 6 | SPLA51060 | 20 | Mandatory |
Introduction to Professional Translation | ELAN31182 | 20 | Optional |
Dissertation in Modern Languages and Cultures | LALC30000 | 40 | Optional |
The Latin American Short Story | SPLA30411 | 20 | Optional |
Reading the Rain Forest: Visions of the Amazon | SPLA30801 | 20 | Optional |
Modern Spanish Music: A Cultural History | SPLA31081 | 20 | Optional |
The Politics of Business in Latin America | SPLA31092 | 20 | Optional |
The Supernatural in Latin American Literature and Film | SPLA31132 | 20 | Optional |
Memory and Culture in Post-Franco Spain | SPLA31141 | 20 | Optional |
History of the Spanish Atlantic World: Empire, Trade, War | SPLA31151 | 20 | Optional |
Displaying 10 of 16 course units for year 4 | |||
Display all course units for year 4 |
Facilities
The University Language Centre is home to language resources, including a new interpreting suite, purpose-built recording rooms, and resources for more than 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 our Facilities page.