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Hispanic Studies and French (BA) (Full-Time, 2021 Entry)

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UCAS Code
RR41

Qualification
Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Duration
4 years full-time, normally including a year abroad

Start Date
27 September 2021

Department of Study
School of Modern Languages

Location of Study
University of Warwick


Our Hispanic Studies and French (BA) degree enables you to gain expertise in two major world languages and cultures by devoting equal weight to each.


Course overview

Hispanic Studies and French is a joint degree that allows you to gain expertise in two major world languages and cultures by devoting equal weight to each. You will take core modules in Spanish and French language every year, combining these with a range of literary, cultural and political options. After your first year, you will choose from a large selection of specialist cultural modules, designed to extend your knowledge and understanding of the literature, culture, society and politics of the Spanish-speaking and the French-speaking worlds. You’ll normally spend your second or third year abroad, consolidating and enhancing your learning.


Course structure

You take four modules each year: one in each of your chosen languages, and one module on a cultural or literary topic from each language department. In your first year, you will take language classes designed to develop your knowledge and understanding of written and spoken French, and you will take a French language module at beginners, intermediate, or advanced level. You will also take the core module The Story of Modern France, where you will examine primary texts from major periods and events in French history, literature, and politics; you will choose one further first-year module in French. In your intermediate and final years, you will have a core module for both Spanish and French language, and a choice of a selection of other modules.


How will I learn?

We employ a variety of teaching styles, including: lectures; seminars, in which the emphasis is on student participation; and written and spoken language classes in small groups. You will spend the rest of your time studying independently, preparing for classes, reading and analysing materials set for study, writing essays and working on your language skills.


Contact hours

You will have around 12 hours of contact time per week.


Class size

Seminars generally involve around 15 students.


How will I be assessed?

We will track your progress through a variety of methods, including language assignments, essays, presentations, portfolio submissions and examinations (written and oral). Throughout your course you will receive detailed, personalised feedback to help you to improve your skills.

The final degree classification is determined by your intermediate- and final-year marks; each of these years contributes 50%.


Your year abroad

We strongly recommend that students take a year abroad, if they are able to. Students may move to a three-year degree if circumstances do not permit them to complete a year abroad. In such cases, there will be further language reinforcement work and students will be encouraged to spend time abroad in other ways, during vacation times.

You will usually spend your year abroad doing one of three things:

  • Working as a language assistant teaching English in a primary or secondary school
  • Studying full-time at a partner university in your chosen country
  • On a work placement

The year abroad options are flexible so we recommend you check the department's subject pages for more details.

General entry requirements

A level:

  • AAB to include French

IB:

  • 36 to include 5 in Higher Level French

BTEC:

  • We welcome applications from students taking BTECs alongside A level French

Additional requirements:

You will also need to meet our English Language requirements.


International Students

We welcome applications from students with other internationally recognised qualifications.

Find out more about international entry requirements.


Contextual data and differential offers

Warwick may make differential offers to students in a number of circumstances. These include students participating in the Realising Opportunities programme, or who meet two of the contextual data criteria. Differential offers will be one or two grades below Warwick’s standard offer (to a minimum of BBB).


Warwick International Foundation Programme (IFP)

All students who successfully complete the Warwick IFP and apply to Warwick through UCAS will receive a guaranteed conditional offer for a related undergraduate programme (selected courses only).

Find out more about standard offers and conditions for the IFP.


Taking a gap year

Applications for deferred entry welcomed.


Interviews

We do not typically interview applicants. Offers are made based on your UCAS form which includes predicted and actual grades, your personal statement and school reference.

Year One


Modern Spanish Language 1

Do you have A level or an equivalent in Spanish and want to consolidate, extend and refine your skills to advanced level? This module will equip you with sound grammatical and linguistic foundations, with the aim of increasing your confidence in reading, listening, speaking and writing in Spanish. You'll use authentic resources in a variety of media from around the Hispanic world, including books, articles, newspapers, television and radio, as well as taking part in our virtual language exchange with students in Colombia, and culminating in production of a language portfolio to demonstrate your competence in the spoken and written language.

OR

Modern Spanish Language for Beginners

As a beginner in the acquisition of the Spanish language, you’ll gain a keen grammatical awareness, a sound understanding of cultures and societies across the Hispanic world, and most of all, confidence in reading, listening, speaking and writing in Spanish. Using authentic resources, including newspapers, television and radio, you are expected to end your course able to sustain everyday conversations in Spanish, read authentic texts, follow the gist of TV extracts and write at an intermediate level in Spanish. You'll also work on basic translations to and from Spanish as a means of consolidating your knowledge.


Modern French Language 1

You will deepen your understanding of French grammar and syntax with the help of tutors experienced in facilitating the transition from A-level to university-level competence. You will learn appropriate technical vocabulary and handle complex structures. You will develop the skills required to produce authentic and accurate translations of journalistic material from French to English. Finally, writing in formal French introduces you to the structures and methods used to debate ideas on contemporary issues. You will increase your reading and comprehension skills and develop your ability to exploit texts for vocabulary, idioms, syntax and grammatical structures. Working with a native speaker in small groups, you will discuss topics on contemporary French culture and society, using audio, video and written resources.

The Story of Modern France

Why is modern France so deeply invested in the past? What are the milestones in the creation of modern France? How have notions of France and Frenchness been shaped through the stories told about them? These are some of the questions you will explore through close reading of primary sources from major periods and events in French history. You will explore a range of materials, from the cartoons of May 1968 to prints dating back to the French Revolution, and from stories of Charlemagne to films and texts reflecting France’s ongoing preoccupation with its (often controversial) recent past. Equipped with these foundations, you will be well prepared to study further aspects of French and Francophone culture in the later stages of your degree.


Intermediate Year^


Modern Spanish Language 2

On this module, you'll extend your competence in Spanish. You'll deepen your understanding of advanced grammatical and linguistic structures, increase the range and sophistication of your vocabulary, and refine your use of register in authentic spoken and written discourse. You'll use resources from a variety of media from around the Hispanic world, and take part in our virtual language exchange with students in Latin America and Spain. At the end of the course, you should have sufficient mastery to discuss different topics, report on your independent reading and support your opinions with solid arguments.

OR

Modern Spanish Language 2 (Post-beginners)


Modern French Language 2

You will consolidate and develop the productive and receptive language skills you acquired in your first year. By the end of the module, you should have appropriate knowledge of vocabulary and syntactic and grammatical structures to produce written French in two prescribed genres. You will develop your skills in translation to and from French, with a focus on specific translation problems, and increase the accuracy with which you use grammatical structures. In spoken French, you will comprehend and produce structured spoken French on a range of topics of contemporary significance in the context of simulated scenarios.


Final Year

Modern Spanish Language 3

On this module, you'll consolidate your fluency in spoken and written Spanish, and refine your translation skills to advanced level. You'll practise oral and discursive expression using a range of advanced linguistic structures, vocabulary and registers. You'll be engaged in independent study, for example in researching and preparing work for presentation in class in order to develop your communicative and intercultural competence and the capacity to structure your own learning.

Modern French Language 3

You will consolidate and develop your ability to write and speak confidently and at a level of intellectual sophistication in correct French. By the end of the course, you should be able to produce a structured written argument on a topic related to your intellectual interests or of cultural concern, in French that is grammatically correct, idiomatic, varied in vocabulary and grammatical structure, and in an appropriate register. You should be able to translate from French to English and English to French accurately, using your detailed knowledge of grammar, vocabulary and idiom, and employing an appropriate register. You will strengthen your skills in pronunciation and intonation and demonstrate these through fluent oral presentation and discussion of an intellectually serious topic.

Examples of optional modules/options for current students:

^Year Two or Three depending on when the year abroad is taken

Tuition fees

Find out more about fees and funding.


Additional course costs

There may be costs associated with other items or services such as academic texts, course notes, and trips associated with your course. Students who choose to complete a work placement or study abroad will pay reduced tuition fees for their third year.


Warwick Undergraduate Global Excellence Scholarship 2021

We believe there should be no barrier to talent. That's why we are committed to offering a scholarship that makes it easier for gifted, ambitious international learners to pursue their academic interests at one of the UK's most prestigious universities. This new scheme will offer international fee-paying students 250 tuition fee discounts ranging from full fees to awards of £13,000 to £2,000 for the full duration of your Undergraduate degree course.

Find out more about the Warwick Undergraduate Global Excellence Scholarship 2021

Your career

This degree course was only recently introduced, so our first cohort of students have not yet graduated.

However, graduates from other Modern Language courses like this one have gone on to work for employers including:

  • Amazon
  • British Airways
  • Civil Service
  • Grayce Consulting
  • HM Revenue and Customs
  • HSBC
  • Ipsos Mori
  • Lidl
  • NBC Universal
  • Save the Children International
  • The Department for International Trade

They have pursued careers such as:

  • Business and financial project management professionals
  • Chartered and certified accountants
  • Financial accounts managers
  • Human resources and industrial relations officers
  • Management consultants and business analysts
  • Public services associate professionals
  • Teachers and other educational professionals

Helping you find the right career

Our department has a dedicated professionally qualified Senior Careers Consultant to support you. They offer impartial advice and guidance, together with workshops and events throughout the year. Previous examples of workshops and events include:

  • What are you doing after Warwick? Career planning for final year language students
  • Careers in the Public Sector
  • Warwick careers fairs throughout the year
  • Completing effective CVs and Application Forms for students from the School of Modern Languages
  • Reflecting on Your Year Abroad
  • Languages Alumni Evening

Find out more about careers support at Warwick.

Georgina, current student

"Very small classes"

"The best part of studying in the SMLC is the feeling of community. Unlike other courses, we often have very small classes, which makes you feel as though you can get to know your tutors and cohort better than if we always sat in large lectures."

Georgina

BA Modern Languages


"We look at the Hispanic world as a whole, we don't just focus on Spain, and that really is reflected in the way that we're taught. So in our speaking classes, we don't have to just speak the variety of Spanish from Spain - we can also speak Columbian Spanish, Mexican Spanish, Chilean Spanish, and equally in our cultural modules, we're taught history or literature from Spain and Latin America and the Phillipines ... so it's a lot broader in that sense."

Laura

Hispanic Studies and French BA

Transcript

About the information on this page

This information is applicable for 2021 entry. Given the interval between the publication of courses and enrolment, some of the information may change. It is important to check our website before you apply. Please read our terms and conditions to find out more.