current list of top Spanish programs?

warblersrule
Sun, 04 Mar 2018 06:17:20 +0000

learning2000:

Hi, what are top colleges/universities for a Spanish major these days?

There’s plenty of good options for studying Spanish. Begin with the basic factors:

[ul][]What are your stats? (GPA, test scores, etc.)
[]What can you afford? How much merit/financial aid will you need?
[]What size college would you like? (1500 students? 6000? 20,000?)
[]What region(s) of the country are you interested in?
[li]Do you have a preference for urban, suburban, or rural colleges?[/ul][/li]Are you interested in combining Spanish with a second major (e.g. public health or business)? If so, your secondary interest may be harder to find than a good Spanish program.

Also consider whether you’re interested in learning other languages in use in Central America like Nahuatl and Yucatec Maya; those are much harder to find than Spanish, but speakers are often highly in demand. For example, see the article “Ancient Mayan languages are creating problems for today’s immigration courts.”

http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-mayan-indigenous-languages-20160725-snap-story.html

Excerpt:

*Mam, a Mayan language spoken by more than 500,000 people in Guatemala, ranked ninth in the top 10 languages spoken in U.S. immigration court last fiscal year. Quiché ranked 11th. Both surpassed French, according to the Department of Justice Executive Office for Immigration Review.

Five years ago, Quiché and Mam didn’t even break the top 25 languages spoken in immigration court.

The shortage of interpreters is leading to a host of issues. Often, judges delay immigration hearings until one is found. At times, asylum seekers are deported even if they have a strong case because a qualified interpreter cannot be found in time. And unlike in immigration court, interpreters aren’t provided for free during asylum hearings.*

merc81:

You might start with colleges with established study abroad programs in Spain

Spain is the third most popular study abroad destination after the UK and Italy; about 30,000 Americans study abroad in Spain each year. Since so many colleges offer programs in Spain, it’s not a useful starting point.