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Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies

Explore and study the languages, societies and histories of Spain, Portugal and Latin America, and immerse yourself in the many vibrant cultures in countries that speak these languages

Welcome to Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies

Our section is dedicated to the study and teaching of the languages, cultures and societies of Spain, Portugal and Latin America, with a particular emphasis on the contemporary.

With around 600 million speakers worldwide, Spanish is spoken by 7.5% of the world's population. Portuguese is another global language, spoken by more than 260 million people in several continents.

Studying these languages will prepare you to engage meaningfully with communities across the globe and open career opportunities in international business, NGOs, diplomacy, education, and translation.

Studying Spanish and Portuguese together will foster a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the cultural, social and political dynamics within Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula.

Explore our undergraduate degrees

Study Spanish and/or Portuguese on any of the following programmes with the School of Modern Languages:

You can also study Spanish and/or Portuguese as part of a degree offered by a different School within the University. 

Find out more about Modern Languages degrees on offer at Newcastle University

Shape your degree around your interests

You can study Spanish and/or Portuguese in combination with other subjects including:

  • Translation and Interpreting, International Relations, Business Studies, and Linguistics

You can also combine Spanish and/or Portuguese with other languages including:

 

Graduate stories

Tia

Tia studied Modern Languages, Translation and Interpreting, spending time in Japan and Spain before finding her current role at a translation agency.

Anna

Anna studied Modern Languages (French & Spanish) at Newcastle, before moving to Colombia to teach English as part of the British Council.

Niall

Niall studied French, Spanish and Portuguese and in 2022 started a position as an in-house translator at FIFA.

View all graduate stories

I enjoyed the learning journey I went on (learnt Spanish from scratch to A-Level in 1 year), the Year Abroad, the community feel 

Naomi Modern Languages Translation and Interpreting Graduate who studied Spanish and Japanese

Optional Year Abroad

One of the highlights of studying languages at university is the opportunity to spend a Year Abroad. You can immerse yourself in the culture while developing your language fluency and discovering new places.

You can choose from the following options in a range of destinations across Spain, Portugal and Latin America:

  • study at one of our partner universities in Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, and Uruguay
  • work as an English teaching assistant in Spain, Argentina or Colombia
  • undertake a volunteer placement
  • undertake a work placement in Spain, Portugal or Latin America
Where can students studying Spanish and Portuguese go?

Year Abroad photos from our students

To give you a glimpse of what the Year Abroad can look like, here are some photos shared by our students during their time in Spain, Portugal and Latin American countries. These moments capture just a few of the unforgettable experiences they had.


More about the Year Abroad

Why study Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American studies at Newcastle?

Wide range of optional modules

There's so much more to studying languages at university than just learning a language. Our members of staff have expertise in a range of areas and we offer a wide variety of optional modules related to Spain, Portugal and Latin America.

Our optional modules allow you to enrich your language learning experience and tailor your degree to your own interests.

You can find full details of the modules available on the individual course pages.

Extracurricular activities 

There are lots of activities to get involved in to reinforce your language studies.

Our teachers of Portuguese organise engaging and lively activities sponsored by the Instituto Camões.

The School of Modern Languages has a long-established partnership with the Institut Ramón Llull. We regularly organise and take part in activities for the promotion of Catalan Language and culture.

Each academic year we offer a vibrant set of public activities. We've organised:

  • film screenings
  • art exhibits
  • workshops
  • talks by exciting speakers from the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America

Important cultural institutions in the North-East region offer a wide array of activities related to the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America. Cinemas around Newcastle frequently show films from these regions and hold language cafes afterwards. These include:

The Glasshouse International Centre for Music and other venues also bring Iberian and Latin American acts to the city.

The Real Translation Project

In your final year, the Real Translation Project gives you the opportunity to translate diverse documents. You'll practice your translation and language skills in a professional context. Past students have translated:

  • tourism brochures
  • human rights reports
  • captions for art and photo exhibits
  • subtitles for a documentary
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