Course summary

Language & Linguistics and Spanish & Latin American Studies at Aberdeen is a great combination, which adds value to highly-developed language skills and cultural knowledge in an major European language with a fascinating exploration of how human language evolved, how we learn languages and how they differ and change over time. You will gain the all-round knowledge and skills to open up an avenue to a wide variety of careers. Spanish & Latin American Studies at Aberdeen has an outstanding reputation, with the highest possible rating of ‘Excellent’ in the last national Teaching Quality Assessment. Aberdeen is one of the most dynamic place to study the Spanish language and the cultural frameworks in countries where it is spoken. We will equip you with the skills to communicate in a global language, spoken by 350 million native Spanish speakers in 19 Latin American states, the Spanish Peninsula and increasingly in the US. You will also study historical, anthropological, literary and cultural texts, films and visual culture of Spain and Latin American countries. Language & Linguistics probes deeply into language and speech – analysing and modelling this fascinating human attribute so that we understand ourselves and human societies more fully. You will explore how the brain processes speech and language, how languages evolve over time, and how we learn second languages. This is an exciting and fast-moving field. Our understanding of language grows all the time with new discoveries in neuroscience, animal behaviour, archaeology, sociology and psychology and new ways to use linguistics theory in industry, medicine, and forensic science emerge year on year. As an integral part of your 4-year programme, you will spend half of year three developing your language skills as a teaching assistant or visiting student in a Spanish-speaking country. You will graduate with a combination of skills to make you very attractive to employers, both in an international setting and in careers such as media, advertising and marketing, information and communication technology, publishing, language teaching and health-related professions such as speech and language therapy.