Department of Spanish

Established in 2009, the Department of Spanish offers a 4-year Spanish Program featuring a “Spanish + English + Professional Skills” training mode, aimed at providing students with proficient linguistic knowledge and adequate practical skills, and further preparing them for Spanish translation and interpretation services.

Cousrse Design

With a view to meeting the needs of the changing market for diverse professional skills against the backdrop of economic globalization and cultural regionalization, the humanities-based curriculum includes courses on basic linguistics and introduction of culture, politics and economic development in Spanish-speaking countries, from which students can acquire a systematic knowledge of Spanish and enhance their cross-cultural communication competence. Bilingual courses such as Contrastive Linguistics, International Trade Practice and Cultures are open for students at advanced level, aiming to broaden their horizon, offer guidance on theory and practice, strengthen their bilingual competence and enhance their competitiveness for future jobs as bilingual experts in foreign affairs.

Faculty

The Department boasts a diverse and experienced faculty consisting of six professional teachers including two foreign experts. With appropriate course arrangement, the faculty offers guidance both in class and after class using a variety of teaching methods. The Department provides abundant library resources and holds a variety of student activities. The library has a huge collection of Spanish books covering education, literature, history, politics, economy and culture. Students in the Department enjoy a wealth of extracurricular activities to enhance their practical skills, such as Spanish Corner, Spanish Consulate Culture Week, Lecture Month and the annual Spanish Culture Festival.

Opportunities

The Department has been actively creating opportunities for social practice through cooperation with government organizations in foreign affairs. Students are encouraged to have work experiences at the Canton Fair and other international exhibitions. “Language Partnership” was built between local and international students learning Chinese, through which our students can use Spanish to teach Chinese. The Department also participated in co-founding the Confucius Institute in Mexico to provide our students and faculty with a platform for teaching and research, and a place where students can improve their ability and skills in language comprehension and expression through immersion.

Exchange Programs

The Department has established partnerships with many foreign universities and institutes such as Autonomous University of Madrid, University of San Diego, University of León, University of Valladolid, Ibero-American University in Mexico, Autonomous University of Yucatan, and University of St. Ignatius of Loyola in Peru. In collaboration with our partners, we have launched a variety of exchange programs such as 3 plus1 joint education programs and summer programs. To date the joint education programs are available to 100% of our students. All third-year students have the opportunity to study in Spanish-speaking countries to broaden their horizon, and enhance professionalism as well as competitiveness.

Success in Talent Cultivation

The Department has achieved a great success in talent cultivation. In 2013, 99.33% of the students passed the Test for Spanish Majors Band 4, well above the national average and ranking high among all comprehensive universities in China. Our graduates also have promising career prospects, flexible choices and decent pay in such fields as foreign affairs, business, culture, media, finance, IT, aviation, logistics, tourism, education, etc..