The aims of the course are: ▪ To develop a range of practical skills that will enable you to understand and communicate in written and spoken language for leisure purposes and in the world of work. ▪ To make you aware of the cultural, social, commercial, historical, geographical, and political background of the countries where Spanish is spoken. ▪ To offer enjoyment, challenge, and intellectual stimulation. ▪ To develop study skills that will help you in your acquisition of other foreign languages. ▪ To allow you to complement your other studies by pursuing selected areas of interest in greater depth. ▪ To encourage maximum use of Spanish. Firstly, you will study four themes over the two years: ▪ Aspects of Hispanic society ▪ Artistic culture in the Hispanic world ▪ Multiculturalism in Hispanic society ▪ Aspects of political life in Hispanic society There will also be a strong emphasis on grammar. Secondly, you will study either two literary texts or one literary text and one film from a prescribed list. Lastly, you will choose your area of interest relating to Hispanic culture for an individual research project. This will form part of the ‘A’ Level speaking exam(presentation and discussion). All British universities offer courses in Spanish, either by itself, combined with another foreign language, or as part of a composite European Studies course; most even offer a year abroad. Spanish can also be studied in a variety of more broadly based combinations such as Spanish with Business, History, Philosophy, Law, and Engineering, amongst many others! Teaching, translating, and interpreting can all require specialist knowledge of Spanish. There are many other careers, however, in which a knowledge of another language to a higher level is becoming increasingly useful, and indeed, sometimes a necessary qualification: export sales and marketing, banking, insurance, chartered accountancy, law, travel, advertising, civil service, broadcasting (BBC), librarianship, secretarial work, journalism, and computing.