Overview
Languages fascinate you. You naturally gravitate toward multiple-language environments. You find yourself automatically wondering what is being expressed when you read or hear another language. You wonder how common expressions in English are structured in Spanish. You experience a strong desire to travel abroad to discover how other cultures operate. You dream about walking down streets where you hear Spanish speaking and singing.
If this describes you, then the Spanish degree at North Greenville University may be the best option for you. Here, NGU's Modern Languages and Linguistics Department faculty members are prepared and willing to help you begin a successful career as a Spanish communicator.
Major Description
As a Spanish major at NGU, you will spend much of your time using the Spanish language; studying the grammar, vocabulary, and cultural differences in peoples who speak Spanish; improving your proficiency in Spanish; and you will even take an abroad trip to immerse yourself in the language.
You will learn about the Spanish language, its grammar and vocabulary, word meanings in different contexts, the differences in cultural activities and culturally acceptable actions in different Spanish-speaking countries, and foreign language teaching techniques and procedures, as well as how to apply this knowledge in your own career.
In your Spanish senior seminar class, you will synthesize everything that you have learned in your Spanish studies and organize that knowledge so that it is useful to you and so that you can effectively communicate it to others. You will also experience using Spanish in a work environment during your internship class.
Ultimately, the Spanish degree will provide a strong education based on a biblical worldview that will prepare you for a variety of pursuits that require knowledge of the Spanish language.
Curriculum
The curriculum in the Modern Languages and Linguistics Department at NGU is divided into four sections: general education, core studies, supporting courses, and electives. The general education section of our curriculum helps you to develop into an informed and productive member of society. The required supporting courses teach you a basic understanding of linguistics. In the core curriculum, you will consolidate your knowledge and skills in your specialty.
The Modern Languages and Linguistics Department offers a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and a bachelor’s in Spanish education, as well as minors and interdisciplinary components in American Sign Language, French, linguistics, and Spanish. The program also offers courses in German and Mandarin Chinese.
Faculty Strengths
Our Modern Languages and Linguistics Department faculty members possess a very wide range of strengths and experiences, as well as very rigorous academic understandings of the languages and cultures they teach.
We have a combination of native speakers and second language learners as instructors. Our professors come from Venezuela, Egypt, England, and the U.S. We have also had professors from Cuba, Chile, Colombia, India, and Saudi Arabia. In addition, our current professors have done study abroad programs in Spain, Honduras, and Guatemala. We continue to strive for maintaining this well-balanced mix of national and international faculty.
Tracks / Concentrations
There are no tracks or concentrations with this major available at this time.
Minors
Scholarships
Electives
The Spanish major course sequence contains 15 credit hours of open
electives, which will enable you to prepare for graduate school in
Spanish or a related field. The electives can also be used to prepare
you for a career using both Spanish and another discipline, such as
business, Christian studies, English as a second language, missionary
work, or many other possibilities.
Success
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Rico Areiza '17 Future
Career Opportunities
- Bilingual Educator
- Court Interpreter
- Customer Support Specialist
- Foreign Service Officer
- Hospital Interpreter
- Importer/Exporter
- International Account Manager
- International Banker
- Interpreter
- Law Enforcement Officer
- Liaison for U.S. Government
- Professor
- Translator
- Travel Agent
- Travel Guide
Postgraduate Studies
- North Greenville University Graduate School
- Converse College
- Dallas Theological Seminary
- Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics (GIAL)
- Messiah College
- Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
- Texas Tech
- University of Georgia
- University of South Carolina
Potential Employers
- BOSCH
- Center for Community Services
- Global Language Center
- Greenville Health System
- Greenville County Schools
- Mannington Township School
- Nicaragua Christian Academy
- Spartanburg County Schools
- Spartanburg Medical Center
Learning Experience
Study Abroad
The Modern Languages and Linguistics Department offers students an opportunity to travel and study abroad in order to experience immersion within the language and culture of their specialty.
Internship
Our internship course requires students to apply their knowledge of experience to a practical world environment.
Local Churches
The Modern Languages and Linguistics Department encourages our students to worship with and to become involved in a church where the language they are studying is spoken.
Faculty Biographies
Dr. Victor Prieto 
Dr. Ben Coates 
Burl Walker 
Keris Suttles 
Michelle Heard 
Rebecca Deal Courses
EXAMPLE COURSE SEQUENCE
First Semester
ENGL 1310 English Comp. & Rhet. (3 hours)
Christian studies elective (3 hours)
Mathematics elective (3 hours)
Fine arts appreciation elective (3 hours)
SPAN 1320 Spanish II (3 hours)
OLL1100 1st-year/HNRS1210 Freshman Honors (1-2 hours)
Second Semester
ENGL 1320 English Comp. & Lit. (3 hours)
Christian studies elective (3 hours)
Biological science course (4 hours)
PHED 1200 Physical Education (2 hours)
SPAN 2310 Spanish III (3 hours)
HIST 1350 Western Civilizations I (3 hours)
(Note: In addition to the courses for their major, every student at NGU is required to register and earn credit for Chapel, for each semester of full-time enrollment, and Cultural Events, for only the first four semesters of full-time enrollment. Each of these courses counts as one-half credit hour per semester. These special offerings support NGU’s mission of educating the whole person — both intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually.)
EXAMPLE COURSE SEQUENCE
First Semester
ENGL 2300 Introduction to Multicultural Literature (3 hours)
HIST 1360 Western Civilizations II (3 hours)
Physical science course (4 hours)
SPAN 2320 Spanish IV (3 hours)
LING 2310 Introduction to Language (3 hours)
Second Semester
COMM 2300 Oral Communication (3 hours)CSCI 1305 Intro. to I.T. (3 hours)
SPAN 2360 Intermediate Gramm. & Comp. (3 hours)
SPAN 2330 Intermediate Conversation (3 hours)
LING 2320 Introduction to Linguistics (3 hours)
Open elective (3 hours)
(Note: In addition to the courses for their major, every student at NGU is required to register and earn credit for Chapel, for each semester of full-time enrollment, and Cultural Events, for only the first four semesters of full-time enrollment. Each of these courses counts as one-half credit hour per semester. These special offerings support NGU’s mission of educating the whole person — both intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually.)
EXAMPLE COURSE SEQUENCE
First Semester
SPAN 3360 Advanced Spanish Conversation (3 hours)Open elective (3 hours)
SPAN 3335 Introduction to Spanish Literature (3 hours)
Spanish elective, 3000 to 4000 level (3 hours)
SPAN 4320 Spanish Linguistics (3 hours)
Second Semester
SPAN 3365 Advanced Gramm. & Comp. (3 hours)
Open elective (3 hours)
Masterpieces of Span. Lit. SPAN 3340-43 (3 hours)
Spanish elective, 3000 to 4000 level (3 hours)
SPAN 4310 Spanish Phonetics (3 hours)
(Note: In addition to the courses for their major, every
student at NGU is required to register and earn credit for Chapel, for each
semester of full-time enrollment, and Cultural Events, for only the first four
semesters of full-time enrollment. Each of these courses counts as one-half
credit hour per semester. These special offerings support NGU’s mission of
educating the whole person — both intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually.)
EXAMPLE COURSE SEQUENCE
First Semester
SPAN 4390 Spanish Senior Seminar (3 hours)Short story (SPAN3337 or SPAN3336) (3 hours)
SPAN 3375 Spanish Culture and Civilization (3 hours)
Open elective (3 hours)
Second Semester
SPAN 4380 Spanish Internship (3 hours)
SPAN 3350 Cultural study of a Span. speaking Country (3 hours)
Spanish elective (3000-4000 level) (3 hours)
Open elective (3 hours)
Note: Students in the Spanish major are strongly urged to take BUSN 3300 Personal Finance, SOCY 3310 Marriage and the Family, and PHED 1150 Self-Defense.
(Note: In addition to the courses for their major, every
student at NGU is required to register and earn credit for Chapel, for each
semester of full-time enrollment, and Cultural Events, for only the first four
semesters of full-time enrollment. Each of these courses counts as one-half
credit hour per semester. These special offerings support NGU’s mission of
educating the whole person — both intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually.)
Program Objectives
- Achieve at least an intermediate high level on the ACTFL OPI (Oral Proficiency Interview).
- Demonstrate significant cultural knowledge of at least one native Spanish-speaking environment.
- Write Spanish with at least an intermediate high level of proficiency.
- Read Spanish with at least an intermediate high level of proficiency.
- Possess a linguistics understanding of the Spanish language.
Resources