Back to Spanish

Read the sections of the Undergraduate Catalog describing general education and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences requirements. Pay special attention to the information on Majors and Minors in the College section.

THE MAJOR: The Spanish major is excellent preparation for careers in business, journalism and communications, law, medicine, the service professions and teaching.

The major consists of 33 semester hours of course work, including language, culture, literature and linguistics, as follows:

SPN 2240 Intensive Aural and Reading Comprehension or SPN 2340 Introduction to Reading and Writing for Bilingual Speakers.
SPN 3300 Spanish Grammar and Composition or SPN 3350 Spanish Grammar and Composition for Bilingual Speakers.
An additional 27 credits of SPN and SPW courses at the 3000 and 4000 levels; a minimum of 12 credits must be at the 4000 level.

SPN 2240/2340 and SPN 3300/3350 or SPN 3440 Spanish for Business must be passed with Bs or better to proceed in the sequence, or to count the courses toward the major and minor.

For students interested in Latin America, Portuguese is highly recommended. POR 3010 is an intensive introduction to Portuguese designed for students who have studied or speak Spanish (or French). In addition, a Certificate in Latin American Studies is available from the Center for Latin American Studies. See the section on certificates after the descriptions of majors.

HONORS: Refer to the general CLAS honors section of this catalog. Majors with a junior/senior GPA of 3.5 or higher are encouraged to write a thesis for high or highest honors at graduation.

THE MINOR: Spanish offers an 18-credit minor. Credits are earned for SPN 2240 or SPN 2340 and all 3000- and 4000-level courses. At least three credits must be at the 4000 level. A minimum of nine credits must be completed at UF, including six credits at the 4000 level. Minors must earn Cs or better in all courses; S grades do not count toward the minor. No more than three credits of courses with a 4905 number may be applied to the minor. Consult the course descriptions section of the catalog for prerequisites.

OVERSEAS STUDY: Candidates for a major or a minor in Spanish are strongly encouraged to spend a summer, a semester or an academic year in Spain or Spanish America. Interested students should contact the department or the UF International Center in 123 Grinter Hall. Study abroad program information and courses should be submitted to the undergraduate coordinator in advance of any study abroad for UF credit. Students who participate in approved overseas study programs can earn up to 15 credits beyond those required for the degree. Moreover, courses taken in a pre-approved UF study abroad program can be applied toward the six-hour international international studies and diversity requirement, if approved by an adviser.

GENERAL EDUCATION: Certain courses satisfy requirements for humanities (H), international/diversity (I) and composition (C). Many of these courses also qualify for Gordon Rule. Classes with SPT prefixes are taught in English and use texts translated into English.

APPLIED FOREIGN LANGUAGE (FLAC or Foreign Languages Across the Curriculum) COURSES: Students who have studied five semesters of Spanish or who have equivalent fluency may enroll in 1-credit Spanish discussion sections that accompany selected Latin American studies courses in anthropology, art, business, philosophy, sociology and religion, etc. These courses count toward the Spanish major and minor. A maximum of three such courses may be credited toward the major or minor. Refer to the course listing for SPN 3224.

PLACEMENT: Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced Languages courses. Students who plan to continue the study of a language begun in high school or any other college, must present SAT II, IB or AP language score(s) before registering at the appropriate level. Students should consult the Schedule of Courses or the Academic Advising section of this catalog to choose the appropriate course level.

If the student has taken none of these examinations, arrangements must be made to take the SAT II on campus.

Students with three years of high school Spanish (grades 9, 10, 11 or 12) cannot enroll in SPN 1130, regardless of placement test results. The lowest level in which they can enroll is SPN 1115 (3 credits) or SPN 1131 (5 credits). Students with four years of high school Spanish may not enroll in courses below SPN 1116, regardless of placement test results.

Any student who has lived in a Spanish-speaking country for more than a year or who has significant Spanish-speaking experience at home or in a community must consult the undergraduate adviser in Spanish before enrolling in any SPN advanced language, literature and culture courses.

Please read carefully the prerequisites for all courses listed and see the undergraduate coordinator to discuss any placement issues. NOTE: Read the Academic Advising section of this catalog regarding the Gordon Rule communication and computation requirement. Many general education courses qualify; check the schedule of courses. Six general education credits must be international/diversity (I).


FRESHMAN YEAR
Semester 1 - Fall
Composition (GE), 3 Credits
Humanities (GE)1, 3 Credits
Mathematics (GE), 3 Credits
SPN 1115 Elementary Spanish
Or SPN 1130 Beginning Spanish I2, 3-5 Credits
Social & Behavioral Sciences (GE), 3 Credits
Total Credits: 15-17
Semester 2 - Spring
Mathematics (GE), 3 Credits
Social & Behavioral Sciences (GE), 3 Credits
Physical & Biological Sciences (GE), 3 Credits
SPN 1131 Beginning Spanish II, Or SPN 1116 Preparation for Intermediate Spanish, 3-5 Credits
Elective, 3 Credits
Total Credits: 15-17

SOPHOMORE YEAR
Semester 3 - Fall
Social & Behavioral Sciences (GE), 3 Credits
Physical & Biological Sciences (GE), 3 Credits
Physical & Biological Sciences Lab, 1 Credit
SPN 2200 Intermediate Spanish I, 3 Credits
Elective, 3 Credits
Total Credits: 13 Critical Tracking Criteria:
• Complete SPN 1131 or higher by the end of semester 3

Semester 4 - Spring
Humanities (GE), 3 Credits
Physical & Biological Sciences, 3 Credits
SPN 2201 Intermediate Spanish II, 3 Credits
Electives, 6 Credits
Total Credits: 15 Critical Tracking Criteria:
• 2.0 cumulative UF GPA
• Complete SPN 2201 or higher by the end of semester 4
• GPA of 2.5 or better in tracking courses listed as critical tracking criteria in semesters 1-4

JUNIOR YEAR
Semester 5 - Fall
SPN 22403 Intensive Aural and Reading Comprehension, 3 Credits
SPN 33004 or 3350 Spanish Grammar and Composition, 3 Credits
SPN or SPW Course, 3000 level 4, 3 Credits
Composition, 3 Credits
Total Credits: 15 Critical Tracking Criteria:
• Complete tracking criteria for semesters 1-4 plus SPN 2240 or 2340 and either SPN 3300 or 3350.
• GPA of 2.5 or better in courses listed as critical track-ing criteria in semesters 1-5

Semester 6 - Spring
SPN or SPW Courses, 3000 level1, 6 Credits
Physical & Biological Sciences, 3 Credits
Elective (3000-level or above, not in major), 3 Credits
Elective, 3 Credits
Total Credits: 15 Critical Tracking Criteria:
• Complete tracking criteria for semesters 1-5, plus SPN or SPW 3000 level credits.

SENIOR YEAR
Semester 7 - Fall
SPN or SPW Courses, 4000 level, 6-9 Credits
Electives (3000-level or above, not in major), 6-9 Credits
Total Credits: 12-18 Critical Tracking Criteria:
• Complete tracking criteria for semesters 1-6, plus 6-9 credits at 3-4000 level, including three credits at the 4000 level.

Semester 8 - Spring
SPN or SPW Courses, 4000 level, 6-9 Credits
Electives (3000-level or above, not in major), 6-9 Credits
Total Credits: 12-18 Critical Tracking Criteria:
• Complete tracking criteria for semesters 1-7, plus 6-9 credits at the 3-4000 level, including six credits at the 4000 level.

1 Some courses may also fulfill the H and I general education requirements: SPW 3030, SPW 3031,
SPW 3100 and SPW 3101, SPN 3510 and SPN 3520; SPN 3440 fulfills the S and I general education categories.

2 Students with prior preparation in Spanish must select an initial course on the basis of their SAT II, IB or AP test scores. Students are then exempted from all courses below that level.

3 SPN 2240 cannot be taken concurrently with SPN 2201. SPN 3300 can be taken concurrently with SPN 2240. SPN 2240 is the first course that earns credit toward the major. SPN 2240 and SPN 3300 are prerequisites for all other 3000 and 4000 Spanish courses and Spanish majors must pass both with a B or better.

Majors who are bilingual speakers of Spanish must take the equivalent courses for bilingual speakers, SPN 2340 and SPN 3350, unless they demonstrate proficiency beyond that level. SPN 2340 is the first course earning credit for the major; SPN 2340 and 3350 must be passed with a B or better to count toward the major. SPN 3350 and 4314 may also fulfill composition general education requirements.

4 SPN 3300 can be taken concurrently with SPN 2240 or with SPN 3301.

Note: Two courses for the major should satisfy the H & I general education requirement.

Back to Spanish