BA (Joint Honours) / BA International

Overview
First Year
Second Year
Year Abroad
Final year

BA(Joint Honours)/BA International (Spanish)

Visit the University’s Courses page for information on how to apply, entry requirements, career options and assessment. The Erasmus programme provides opportunities to study abroad as part of the BA International.

Course overview

The BA International is a four-year programme involving the study of at least one modern Continental language to degree level and a one year period of study in a country in which that language is spoken.

The BA (Joint Honours) is a three-year version of the above degree, without the Year Abroad. Students of Spanish normally take the BA International. In exceptional circumstances, students may be allowed to opt for the BA (Joint Honours), although there is a strict requirement on such students to spend at least three months in Spain or Latin America during the course of their degree programme. Students should consult their Year Coordinator or the Head of Spanish if they wish to be considered for the BA (Joint Honours).

View our Spanish brochure here

Objectives – BA International

The BA International will enable suitably qualified students to study, in the third year of the programme, both of their academic subjects in a University of a continental European Union country (with the possibility, in the case of Spanish, of studying in a Latin American university). It will offer students the facility to study a Modern Continental language (and its literature) in a country where it is spoken, and also to study approved courses for their second subject through that same language with emphasis on the European/Continental dimension.

Programme content

The student must select her/his two degree subjects from the subject groupings provided by the College of Arts.

Students taking a combination of subjects other than in accordance with the above groupings may also, with the permission of the disciplines concerned and the approval of the College, be admitted to the programme.

Courses taken abroad

During their year of study abroad, students are required to enrol for courses and present themselves for the associated examinations. Normally they will be required to attain a total of 45 ECTS units or their equivalent in other approved credit unit systems. The students’ results are considered by a Special Examination Board. Students whose performance is considered unsatisfactory will be required to undertake additional work and to complete it successfully before they may proceed to graduation.

To learn more about the requirements for studying at a university overseas or for participating in a placement overseas, please click: https://www.universityofgalway.ie/erasmus-programme/outgoingstudents/

First Year

Congratulations on starting your new Arts degree. You have chosen Spanish as one of your subjects for your first year at the University of Galway.

Why study Spanish? What a student says:

Dr. Lorna Shaughnessy, lecturer in Spanish. Why study Spanish?

Your goal this year will not only be to learn enough communicative and cognitive skills to communicate with Spanish speakers, here and abroad, but also to get to know and understand some of the culture, the literature and films that the Spanish-speaking world has produced in recent decades at a basic level.

The course outline/syllabus for First Year will guide you through the variety of courses that you will be exposed to in your first year. The success of the year will depend on your engagement with this subject. You will be ably assisted by our friendly and motivated staff not only in these university courses but also in extracurricular activities designed to provide you with a richer Spanish world in Galway.

SPANISH-TIMETABLE-SEMESTER-1-FIRST-YEAR-ARTS-SH1100-&-SH1101-2024.25 UPDATED

FIRST YEAR ARTS SPANISH 2024.25 COURSE BOOKLET

‌Contact details

Dr Ivan Kenny,
Co-ordinator of First Year (Arts),
Room AMB 2016
ivan.kenny@universityofgalway.ie

Second Year

‌

SECOND ARTS SPANISH - Overview

The course outline/syllabus for the Second Year of the B.A. and B.A. Connect aims to enable students to build on their skills in Spanish Language and to develop a sound knowledge of selected aspects of Spanish and Latin American literature and culture. Whether you have begun Spanish as a complete Beginner in First Year, or entered at post-Leaving Cert level, the course will offer you a range of language and content modules that will enhance your competencies and challenge you to reach the level you will need in order to get the maximum benefit from the Year Abroad, (in Spain or Latin America) which is the goal you should have in mind this year.

Semester 1 – Ex-Beginner or Ex-Intermediate?

There are two different language modules in Semester 1.
If you were a Beginner last year you take SH2100 this year.
If you took Intermediate last year you take SH2101 this year.
Further registration details can be found in the course booklet.

‌Second Year Spanish Timetable 2024-2025

‌Second Year Spanish Course Outline 2024-2025

Essay Front Cover Sheet

‌As soon as you register, please log into Canvas and watch the 21 minute introductory video in SH2100 or SH2102. First meeting time and venue, timetable, modules and assessment are clearly explained in the video.

Contact Details:
Dr. Pilar Alderete-Diez
Co-ordinator of Second Year (Arts)
Room AMB 2032
091-49 2193
pilar.alderete@universityofgalway.ie

Year Abroad – International Year

All students taking Spanish to degree level will have the opportunity to study for one year at either a Spanish or Latin American University.

The BA International is a four-year programme. Admission to this programme is in second year of the BA Omnibus. All students who wish to take Spanish to degree level must take this option. This means that students will do the third year of their academic programme at a Spanish-speaking university where they will be expected to study for and pass exams in both Spanish and their second subject.

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Students who choose to go to Spain will partake in the EU-funded ERASMUS PROGRAMME.

Students who go to Latin America will not be able to avail of ERASMUS funding.

Requirements to pass Year Abroad
Pass both Spanish and Second Subject - More Information Here.
Completion of a Current Affairs Portfolio - More Information Here.

Destinations

We currently have a selection of 14 destinations for students to choose from in Spain and Mexico. Our current partner institutions are:
Universidad Alcalá (Madrid/Spain)
Universidad de Deusto (Bilbao/Spain)
Universidad de Cádiz (Cádiz/Spain)
Universidad de Extramadura (Cáceres/Spain)
Universidad de Granada (Granada/Spain)
Universidad de León (León/ Spain)
Universidad de La Rioja (Lorgoño/Spain)
Universidad de Málaga (Málaga/Spain)
Universidad de Murcia (Murcia/ Spain)
Universidad de Oviedo (Oviedo/Spain)
Universidad de Salamanca (Salamanca/Spain)
Universidad de Valencia (Valencia/Spain)
University of Valladolid (Valladolid/Spain)
University of Veracruz (Xalapa/Mexico)

Contact

Dr.Lorraine Kelly
Co-ordinator of Year Abroad
lorraine.kelly@universityofgalway.ie
Room AMB 2009
091-495927

Final Year

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Final Year Spanish

NOTE: This information contained on this webpage is primarily aimed at students taking
Final Arts Spanish during the academic session 2023-24

ERASMUS students interested in taking any Final Arts Spanish classes should get in contact with the Discipline Administrator, Natalie Nevin, natalierebecca.nevin@universityofgalway.ie or with the Head of Discipline, Dr. Kate Quinn, kate.quinn@universityofgalway.ie BEFORE registering for any modules.

The course outline for Final Arts aims to assist you with improving and consolidating your written and spoken expression in Spanish, and to help you develop a high level of skill in aural comprehension, reading and writing Spanish at a minimum of level B2 (CEFR). The success of the year will depend to a great extent on the effort you make to take charge of your own learning and to continue to advance to the highest possible level.

Final Arts students will register for a total of 30 ECTS for Spanish.

Details on registration and selection of modules will be available from the Final Arts booklet, a draft version of which is available below.

ALL Final Arts students majoring in Spanish will register for the following five modules (totalling 30 ECTS):

SH339 Spanish Language III (5 ECTS) – Semester 1 module
SH340 Spanish Language IV (10 ECTS) – Semester 2 module
SH336 Hispanic Literature and Culture III (5 ECTS) – Semester 1 module
SH337 Hispanic Literature and Culture IV (5 ECTS) – Semester 1 module
SH3104 Hispanic Research – From Theory to Practice (5 ECTS) – Semester 2 module

(Final Arts students minoring in Spanish will register for ONLY SH339 and SH340)