Why learn Spanish?
Spanish is the language of over four hundred million people! It is spoken officially in 23 countries and it is the second language of the United States, where there are some 38 million Spanish speakers. Spanish is also one of the four major languages of the European Union alongside English, French and German. Business opportunities for people who speak Spanish abound, especially as Australian trade with Latin America is steadily increasing.
If you’re interested in a career in tourism, speaking a second language is a great advantage to your prospects in Europe and the United States where graduates are expected to speak at least one foreign language. Other possible careers include translating and interpreting, the public service, especially in Foreign Affairs and Trade, and teaching.
Spanish is also a major language of international culture, and has a rich literary tradition. Cervantes’s masterpiece Don Quixote is considered to be one of the greatest works of literature and more recently writers such as the Latin Americans Gabriel García Márquez and Octavio Paz, as well as the Spaniard Camilo José Cela, have been winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature. In music, salsa, merengue, cumbia, etc. performed by groups and solo acts such as the internationally acclaimed Buena Vista Social Club and performers such as Ricky Martín are taking the world by storm. Furthermore, both Spain and Latin America have strong film cultures, with the 2000 and 2003 Oscar for the Best Foreign Film being awarded to Pedro Almodóvar.
The Spanish and Latin American Studies Program at Monash University offers courses covering all these areas – language, literature, linguistic and cultural studies – for complete beginners and more advanced students (post VCE). After just one year of study in the Spanish and Latin American Studies Program, dedicated beginners are able to communicate and read Spanish well. The Program also offers interested students the opportunity to spend a semester studying at Spanish and Latin American universities.