General information

Hispanic Studies is a University of Barcelona institution that has focused on teaching Spanish language and culture to international students for over sixty years. Throughout the academic year, it offers a wide range of language and culture courses.

Spanish language courses are adapted to the levels in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL) and programmes are based on the Cervantes Institute Curricular Plan (PCIC).

In the classes, work on grammar points is closely associated with language practice, in a communicative, dynamic, flexible framework.

Group levels

Students will be put into groups at the five language levels, through a Spanish level test taken at the start of the course.

Levels

For more information about levels, please click on the following link.

Credits (ECTS)

Hispanic Studies courses provide European Union university accreditation, based on the European Credits Transfer System (ECTS)

Year-long course (220 h): 28 ECTS
Autumn course (110 h): 14 ECTS
Spring course: (110h): 14 ECTS

Assessment system

The year-long (220 h), autumn and spring (110 h) courses are assessed as follows:

Class participation grade: 20%
Final examination: 80%

Attendance

Students must attend at least 80% of classes. If they do meet the attendance requirement, they may lose up to 10% of their final grade (class participation + final exam).

Through the Cultural Studies programme at Hispanic Studies, international students are offered the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of Spain, as well as Europe and Latin America, through subjects such as history, art, geography, politics, and cinema, among others.

Students who wish to do so may also practise Spanish through skills-based courses such as “Conversing and Pronouncing in Spanish” or “Spoken Spanish in Everyday Situations”, among others.

We offer courses in Spanish culture, adapting the language level to the students’ proficiency in Spanish without compromising the quality of the content. To this end, we have highly qualified teaching staff. Students are also informed of the recommended language level required to follow each course.

In addition, the Business, Communication and Society programme is offered in English.

Course Structure

• Cultural courses in Spanish may be 90 hours or 45 hours in duration, and are offered either annually or during the autumn and spring semesters, respectively.
• Cultural courses in English are 45 hours long and are offered in the autumn and spring semesters.

Schedule

Cultural courses take place in the afternoon, between 14:00 and 20:00, from Monday to Thursday, two days a week, in 90 minute sessions.

Credits

All Hispanic Studies courses provide ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) accreditation:

• 90-hour courses: 12 ECTS
• 45-hour courses: 6 ECTS

Recommended Subjects by Language Level

From A1 level

• Catalonia: Language, Culture and Society
• Spanish Cinema
• Oral Spanish in Everyday Situations
• Spanish Conversation and Pronunciation

From B1 level

• Barcelona, Creative and Cultural City
• Barcelona: The Meeting of Spanish and Hispanic Literature
• Art in Spain: From the Mosque of Córdoba and The Cathedral of Santiago to Gaudí, Picasso, and Dalí
• Contemporary Spain: Geography, Society and Institutions
• Spain and Europe: Origins and Evolution
• Understanding and Writing in Spanish

Hispanic Studies reserves the right not to run the class should the number of the registered student be insufficient.

Hispanic Studies reserves the right to change the timetable of a subject should circumstances require.

Enrolment establishes a formal commitment between the student and Hispanic Studies. As such, enrolment fees cannot be returned, unless a student is denied a visa (in which case 75% of the fee will be reimbursed). The refound in case of visa denial will be excluded If the enrollment do not accomplish the recommended academic requirements to apply for the Full Time (20 hours of class per week) student visa, You can find more information in the section “Visa” in this website. It is the student’s responsibility to know the information provided in this website.

If only the deposit has been paid, no amount will be returned. Requests for cancelation of enrolment should be sent to eh.informacion@ub.edu (accompanied by supporting documentation if the student has been denied a visa).

Students who cannot start their course when planned due to reasons of employment, academic commitments or poor health can choose to delay enrolment. In this case, the fee is reserved and enrolment is transferred to a later course. Requests should be sent to eh.informacion@ub.edu within 7 calendar days of the start date for year-long and semester-long courses and within 2 calendar days of the start date for intensive or summer courses.