Spanish and Linguistics, MA (Hons)

Course summary

Spanish is the official language in 20 countries and widely spoken in four more territories, including the United States. This flexible programme gives you the opportunity to study Spanish while developing your social scientific understanding of language. Spanish and Linguistics make an excellent joint honours choice by combining the study of:

• a modern language in its cultural context

• the expression and creation of meaning

Linguistics courses of particular relevance to language students cover:

• the speech sounds of the world's languages

• variation in the languages of the world

• the structure and history of world languages

SpanishStudying Spanish at the University of Edinburgh, you will be immersed in an extraordinary range of literature, film, poetry and theatre from around the world. Our programme invites you to explore the diverse and rich cultures of Spain, Latin America and the Caribbean in historical context.On joining us, beginners take our Spanish 1A course; students with substantially more experience of learning the language typically take Spanish 1B. Intensive training gives you the opportunity to develop advanced spoken and written skills in Spanish, including how to discern different varieties and registers of the language. By Year 3, you will have the skills to spend the year in a country where Spanish is spoken. Combined with taking option courses during your degree, this experience gives you the crucial intercultural competencies valued by employers around the world.By your final year, you will have developed critical and analytical skills to the standard of completing a dissertation or long essay. LinguisticsLinguistics examines how language works, describing how sounds, words, sentences and conversations combine to express and create meaning. You will also study:

• the uses of language in everyday life

• the ways in which it varies across society and evolves over time

• how it is mastered by children

As you progress through the programme, you will have the opportunity to plan and test scientific hypotheses about linguistic phenomena using specialist linguistics and phonetics equipment. Why EdinburghAs a world-leading festival and capital city, Edinburgh is a fantastic place to study a modern language in its cultural context and alongside Linguistics.Spanish has been taught here since the early years of the twentieth century, celebrating its centenary in 2019.Studying over four years enables you to choose courses, including from other disciplines, that match your own interests, expertise and employability needs. For example, you can opt to study Basque, Portuguese or Catalan as part of your programme. We are unique in Scotland in offering students a full academic year abroad within the four-year honours programme, regardless of whether you spend the year studying or working.

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