About

While many may only dream about one day going to Europe, Sarah Nicholson ’11 spent a semester studying in Seville, Spain, as part of majoring in Spanish. “I loved the fact that I was greeted with new experiences and ideas every single day,” she said. “I think that there is no better way to truly learn a language than to immerse yourself in its culture and build relationships with people.”

Courses for Spanish majors cover a variety of history, socio-economic studies and in-depth language study. Students will study advanced language skills in listening, reading, speaking and writing as well as review problematic grammatical structures, dialectical variations and contemporary Latin American cultures. Upper level classes are taught in Spanish in order to challenge students to speak and write with fluency.

In order to provide a hands-on learning experience, students will complete a language internship in either a professional or ministry setting in the greater Siloam Springs area or other Spanish-speaking context. Spanish majors spend a semester in Seville, Spain, in a program operated by Trinity Christian Colleges. Students may also attend the Latin American Studies Program in Costa Rica.

In addition to Spanish, the Department of Linguistics offers minors in Fresh, Spanish, and Linguistics. Courses in other languages, such as Japanese and Latin, are offered when there is sufficient student interest.

What does Sarah want to do with her Spanish major? “I really want to teach English to speakers of other languages, particularly Spanish,” she said. “My Spanish background really gives me a lot of insight into the difficulties and specific problems that Spanish speakers have in learning English.”