DEPARTMENT OF SPANISH

The Future Speaks Spanish

Master the language of success for a thriving career in any profession! There are almost 600 million Spanish speakers worldwide, and the U.S. has the second largest Spanish-speaking population in the world after Mexico. Knowing Spanish gives you a competitive edge in a global market where communication is key. With the Hispanic population in the U.S. projected to reach nearly one out of every four people by 2050, learning Spanish is no longer just a valuable asset—it is a vital necessity.

WHY STUDY SPANISH?

Diverse Job Opportunities

Bilingual skills are highly valued across the U.S. job market, with Spanish being the language most in-demand. Proficiency in a second language is becoming a vital skill across all sectors, and employers in diverse industries—including medical, government, legal, journalism, business, education, sales and more—seek applicants who can communicate fluently in Spanish.

Higher Earning Potential

Bilingual employees earn an average of 5-20% more than their monolingual counterparts and are in great demand in high-prestige jobs. Proficiency in Spanish can help you stand out in a competitive job market and secure high-paying and prestigious roles in business management, industrial engineering, finance, law, social work, and healthcare among other industries.

Enhanced Skill Set

Learning a second language not only fosters creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills—it also enhances your ability to process information quickly and efficiently. These critical skills are often at the top of the list of desired attributes for employees with pivotal roles in industry.

A Gateway to Other Languages

With its Latin roots, similar alphabet, and about 20,000 cognates with English, Spanish is considered one of the easiest languages for English speakers to learn. Proficiency in Spanish also makes it easier to learn Latin-based languages like French, Italian and Portuguese.

FOLLOW THE DEPARTMENT OF SPANISH

CURRENT STUDENT RESOURCES

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

SYMPOSIUM ON AI

September 26-27, 2024

AI and the Future of Second Language, Literature and Culture Pedagogy

COMMUNITY INTERPRETER INTERNSHIP

An internship opportunity for undergraduate students with advanced proficiency in Spanish and an interest in helping the Hispanic community

LEARN MORE

WHO WE ARE

AIDAN FECKO ’23 CLAS

Aidan Fecko '23 CLAS graduated with a double major in Mathematics and Spanish. When asked how he thought Spanish would help in his future career, he said: "There's so much to be said about being able to understand a new culture and being able to communicate and form connections with your mind beyond our own little Villanova bubble. I think, even with evolving over 4 years as a Spanish major myself, learning to think in so many different ways has made me such a rounded individual. Being a Spanish major has really given me different layers that I'm so happy now make up a part of who I am." MORE...

KEVIN CRESTI '22 CLAS

Kevin Cresti '22 CLAS graduated with a double major in Biology and Spanish. When asked about double majoring, he said "When I was stressed about my biology classes, I could take a break to think about Spanish and vice versa," and "Spanish was a different type of learning and stimulated different parts of my brain than studying biology. I realized that it's really important to me to be continuously learning, and Spanish was a great way to do that." MORE...

SERENA MATOS ’23 CLAS

Serena Matos '23 graduated with a double major in biology and Spanish. When asked about undergraduate research in Spanish, she said: "The ability to do research in Spanish was amazing because in other departments it can be very competitive and difficult to get research opportunities. Having the option to do linguistics research in Spanish was awesome. Research teaches you all about the academic process and makes you better at reading and writing up academic studies too. In the LUV Lab, I was able to transcribe and analyze data from a real Hispanic community in Philadelphia, which was a great way to apply my knowledge of language and linguistics to better understand how community influences language structure." MORE...

PAUL KOSSOF ’10 CLAS

Paul Kossof ’10 CLAS graduated with a double major in Spanish and Philosophy. “I was drawn to study in the RLL Department as I grew up speaking Italian and Spanish. As a student, I was involved in Spanish Club, and I loved writing philosophy essays in Spanish—my favorite academic aspect. I studied abroad in Cádiz, Spain, which was an amazing experience. I decided to arrive in Madrid 10 days before I needed to be there in order to explore the city by myself, which I highly recommend! Post-graduation, I became fluent in Chinese, went to law school, and lived in China for 7 years. Now, I’m back in the US as an in-house lawyer and Senior VP for an investment firm, DAC Management."

MEG CARTER '19 CLAS

Meg (Margaret) Carter '19 graduated with degrees in English and Spanish. Regarding the two programs, she said, "The majors paired very well; it often seemed like they were in conversation with one another. When I learned about a particular literary theory in an English course, I could apply that in a Spanish literature course. I took a class on modernism in English and ended up taking a Spanish class on modernism too. I think that taking classes in both languages broadened my understanding of literary movements more globally rather than in an Anglocentric sphere." MORE...

SUPPORT THE DEPARTMENT